Bees and Roses
by mikotyzini
Summary: Needing a little more Bumblebee or White Rose in your life? These little one shots might be just what you need! Primarily Bumblebee, but White Rose will have their own features as well.
1. Grateful

**Ok, I've been really bad at posting lately (my other story, which I am avoiding because I don't want it to end), but I wrote a short little story for Thanksgiving that will kick off my collection of random Bumblebee and White Rose one shots!**

**I write these sporadically when I need a break from writing longer stories. They'll be pretty random as I get different prompts from different people, but will hopefully all be enjoyable in the Bumblebee and White Rose fluff department!**

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><p>The four members of Team RWBY sat at their customary lunchroom table, enjoying their meal break from what was a grueling stretch of classes today. The cafeteria buzzed with the voices of all the other huntsmen-in-training currently enjoying their own meals, creating a comfortable level of noise that filled the room.<p>

With Yang and Blake seated opposite of Weiss and Ruby, the four girls were eating in an easy silence before Yang decided to speak up – voicing what every other person in the school must be feeling.

"So lame that we even have classes today," she grumbled before sticking another forkful of noodles into her mouth. "Isn't it supposed to be a holiday?"

Weiss scowled at the blonde for speaking with her mouth full, but didn't make a comment. Instead, she tapped Ruby lightly on the arm in reprimand when the brunette spilled her own pile of noodles onto the table.

"Oh, I know!" Yang exclaimed, completely ignoring what was happening across the table from her as she clapped her hands together in excitement. "Let's all say something we're grateful for today."

Looking eagerly around the table, she grinned when she received two shrugs and one enthusiastic nod in approval.

"Ruby, you're our leader – you start," the blonde commanded. "What are you grateful for?"

"That's easy!" Ruby responded quickly, eyes lighting up when she thought of her answer.

Yang cut her off before she could continue.

"And you _can't_ say Weiss."

"Oh…" Ruby replied, looking completely deflated. "Uh…well then…I'm grateful for…snow!"

Yang rolled her eyes at the response while Weiss looked rather amused.

"Jeez, way to suck up, Ruby," the blonde remarked with a snicker.

"Well what are _you_ thankful for, Yang?" Weiss interjected, always the one to come to Ruby's aid.

"_I'm_ thankful for this fine school – that is forward thinking enough to give our Faunus comrades equal opportunity to enroll and attend."

Now it was Weiss' turn to roll her eyes.

"Talk about sucking up," she mumbled quietly under her breath.

"What about you, Weiss?" Blake asked, giving the girl a look that told the heiress she had heard exactly what Weiss had just said.

"Well…I'm thankful for all the lovely nature we are blessed to be surrounded by," Weiss answered calmly.

"Nature…" Yang stated disbelievingly. "As in, flowers?"

"Flowers _are_ a part of nature, you buffoon," Weiss responded hotly.

"Like roses," Yang prodded further, none to subtly pointing out that Weiss hadn't just pulled a fast one on her.

"Yes, like roses. Is there a problem with liking flowers?" Weiss shot back at her.

Yang smirked in response before letting it go and turning to look at Blake, who was absentmindedly curling one finger within a lock of Yang's hair.

"What about you, Blake? Anything you're particularly thankful for?"

Blake smiled demurely back at her.

"I'm thankful for the sun…and all the warmth it provides."

Yang beamed at the response while Weiss perfected her already patented eye roll and Ruby pretended to gag on her food.

Or…Ruby actually began to gag on her food, prompting Weiss to pound the girl's back roughly with one fist before Ruby could breathe again.

"Whew, thanks Weiss!" the brunette said before noticing two members of Team JNPR walking by their table on their way out of the cafeteria.

"Hey Nora! What are you grateful for today?" she asked loudly, waving one hand in order to catch the girl's attention.

"I'm grateful for Rennie!" Nora replied instantly, happily grabbing onto the boy's arm and leaning into his side.

"It has to be something _besides_ Ren," Yang explained. "Otherwise, the game isn't fun."

Nora looked at all of them in confusion.

"Why not?"

"Because obviously you're grateful for him! We're looking for _other_ things to be thankful for," she clarified further.

"Oh, well I'm thankful for a lot of things – sloths…grilled cheese…unlimited ammo…tape…but I'm _most_ grateful for Rennie, so why shouldn't he be my first answer?" Nora asked innocently before Ren tugged gently on her elbow.

"Sorry guys, we're going to be late for class if we don't go get her books…" Ren explained apologetically as he dragged the girl away from them. The four girls remaining at the table looked back and forth at one another while listening to the fading rambling of other items Nora was also grateful for.

"Well…I suppose it's not such a bad thing if what you're most grateful for is obvious," Weiss commented slowly.

"Yeah, and just because it's obvious, doesn't mean we shouldn't say it out loud, right?" Ruby added.

A few moments of silence passed before Yang nodded her head in thoughtful agreement.

"I'm thankful for you, Blake!" she suddenly shouted, pulling her unsuspecting partner into a crushing hug.

"And I'm thankful for you," the Faunus girl responded softly, her smile hidden amongst Yang's mane of long, blonde hair.

"Weiss! You're the person I'm most grateful for!" Ruby exclaimed loudly, not to be outdone by her sister.

"Hey!" Yang yelled from across the table as Weiss gave Ruby a gentle hug and whispered 'you too' so only Ruby (and Blake) could hear.

"And you, Yang!" Ruby replied hastily. "And Blake, you too!"

"I'm grateful for _all_ of you," Weiss said with a genuine smile.

"Yeah, I am too," Yang responded with a big grin. "Even Weiss."

Blake and Ruby broke into laughter while Yang dodged the carton of juice thrown across the table towards her.

Finished with their meal, they cleared off their table and headed towards their next class - walking shoulder to shoulder with the teammates and partners they were thankful for and fortunate to have.

Passing Ren and Nora in the hallway, Yang chuckled when the boy glowered at them, still listening to Nora's never-ending list parade on and on.

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><p><strong>Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who are celebrating the holiday this week! Remember that sometimes even if someone <strong>**_knows_**** you appreciate them, it's always nice to say it out loud. Just like I appreciate all you readers so so much!**

**Be more like Nora! :)**


	2. Grapefruit

**Ok, this was a prompt I got some time ago - I believe I already posted this on Tumblr, but didn't have anywhere to put it on . It finally fits! The goal was for it to be less than 500 words (it's 499!). So, short and sweet and White Rose. Enjoy!**

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><p>"What's <em>that<em>?"

Weiss looked up from her plate and scowled at the brunette sitting across from her at the small table squeezed into the corner of their dorm room.

"A grapefruit," she answered dryly. Ruby should know this; she's only eaten the same thing for breakfast every day for the past _two years_.

Ruby shuddered, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Looks healthy."

Weiss rolled her eyes, turning her attention back towards the two halves of pink fruit staring up at her. It looked _good_ to her. Or maybe…she just didn't know differently.

Picking up her spoon, she pried the first slice out and popped it into her mouth, instantly pursing her lips as the acrid taste overwhelmed her taste buds.

Too sour.

A giggle drew her attention upward, finding Ruby observing her reaction attentively.

"Looks like you enjoy it, too," the brunette quipped cheekily (_too_ cheekily for Weiss' taste) as she happily pouring herself a huge bowl of the sweetest, most sugar filled cereal in existence.

"I _do_ enjoy it!" Weiss replied, the shrillness in her voice giving away her lack of conviction in her words. "Grapefruits are _delicious_ and contain all of the vitamins you need to begin the day."

She stabbed her spoon back into the fruit, scooping out another slice and sticking it into her mouth in defiance. She managed to prevent her lips from curling as the bitterness hit her, but felt her nose twitch as it threatened to wrinkle with displeasure.

Ruby laughed, mouth full of Sugar-Os.

"If they're _soo_ good and _soo_ healthy, why did you get out the sugar?" Ruby asked, pointing her milk covered spoon towards the sugar dish Weiss had placed in the middle of the table just minutes earlier.

Weiss glanced at the sugar disdainfully, then back at Ruby.

"I got that out for _you_ in case your _bowl full_ _of sugar_ wasn't sweet enough for you!" she replied heatedly. "And don't speak with your mouth full!"

She turned back to her breakfast, spearing the next slice viciously as Ruby continued laughing.

She _had_ gotten out the sugar for herself, but she couldn't admit that now. And now she had to finish the entire grapefruit, or risk Ruby making a bigger fuss over Weiss' choice in breakfast foods.

She slowly ate slice after slice of the unpleasant fruit, swallowing it whole before it hardly had the chance to touch her tongue. The urge to pucker her lips grew exponentially as the sour taste refused to dissolve.

Moments later, Ruby let her spoon drop into her bowl with a satisfied sigh.

"Time for class!" the brunette called happily as she jumped up from her seat.

Before she could move away, Weiss grabbed her arm, pulling Ruby down and crashing their lips together, forcing entrance into the startled brunette's mouth.

Releasing Ruby several seconds later, Weiss smiled as she stood to retrieve her school things, savoring the sweet taste still lingering upon her lips.

Not such an unpleasant meal, after all.


	3. Missed Opportunity

**Prepare yourselves...to be subjected to something so cute...you will likely be placed into a cute coma for the rest of the day.**

**(At least, I think this is adorable, but maybe that's just me.)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"Ugh…" Yang groaned into the palms of her hands, face pressed against them in anguish.<p>

"How could I have been so stupid?"

She asked the question out loud as she gazed around the empty room – hoping that maybe she would receive a response from something, someone. Even Weiss' precious alarm clock confirming that she was an idiot would work right now.

But silence was the only sound that met her ears. Well, silence and the continued pounding of her own rapidly beating heart.

Sitting down on the edge of Blake's bed, she put her head back into her hands, at a complete loss for anything else to do at the moment.

What else could you do, when you had just realized that you'd lost your chance to be with the person you loved?

She didn't know how long she sat there – seconds…minutes…hours…time had little meaning to her as it passed her by. Eventually, the sound of the dorm room door clicking open caught her attention, alerting her that someone else had entered the room.

"Yang?"

Ruby's voice called out from inside the doorway, full of concern over the undoubtedly worrisome sight before her eyes. The sound of a bag dropping to the floor was accompanied by a whiff of roses as Ruby sped to her side. A warm arm wrapped around her shoulders an instant later, breaking down the last barrier Yang had constructed to keep her emotions at bay.

She felt the first hot tears hit her palms as her shoulders began shaking. Ruby's arm tightened around her, alarm radiating from her younger sister.

"Yang, what's wrong?" the brunette asked in a quiet whisper.

She struggled to form coherent sentences in her mind that could somehow express why she was so upset – the cause for her tears – but no words came. No words except for the ones scrawled on the tiny scrap of paper still clutched between the fingers on her left hand. The words that had been burned into her memory when she had found the piece of paper laying on her pillow after getting back from the gym.

Extending her hand in Ruby's direction, she felt her sister hesitate before finally plucking the object away from her. Yang felt another presence in the room move towards them, knowing from the comfortable chill that preceded that it was Weiss.

Of course it was Weiss. The two girls had become nearly inseparable lately.

A far cry from how she and Blake had become.

After the small piece of paper, the only physical evidence of Yang's misery, had been read, silence ensued while Yang continued mourning her loss.

"Yang, I…don't understand…why did this make you so upset?"

She finally threw her hands down into her lap, looking up to find Ruby and Weiss both staring at her intently, matching expressions of confusion lingering upon their faces. Weiss quickly read the paper again, as if she had somehow missed a clue that had been hidden there.

"Don't you see?" Yang asked, voice wavering on the edge of hysteria while tears continued to fall from her eyes. "She's going _out_ with him. _Going out._ As in…dating? She's dating him!"

When the partners shared a questioning glance with one another, she reached forward and grabbed the paper out of Weiss' hands, holding it between her own fingers so she could read it out loud.

"Yang – I'm _going out_ with Sun tonight to see a movie. Be back later. Blake."

"Uhh…" Ruby began as her two teammates continued to blink at her, speechless.

"She's going out with Sun!" she practically yelled at them, feeling a tiny bubble of frustration burst within her. "She _can't_ go out with Sun!"

"Why not? He may not be the most…refined…of students, but he is nice and they seem to get along quite well," Weiss remarked, seeming to have lost interest in the conversation as she returned to her own side of the room to begin putting her school books away.

Yang could only sputter at the heiress' back at the girl's casual comments.

"She can't go out with him because…because…" she trailed off, realizing there was only one good reason she could come up with for why this couldn't happen.

"Because you like her," Ruby finished softly.

Yang stared at the brunette in shock, stupefied by the fact that Ruby had been able to piece that together so easily.

"H-how did you know?" she asked in astonishment.

She had thought she was being inconspicuous about her feelings for her Faunus partner – making sure not to flirt _too_ much, not to stand _too_ close, not to spend _too_ much time together…and apparently her efforts to avoid making Blake uncomfortable had worked _too_ well, pushing the girl away from her instead. How had Ruby seen through her efforts if Blake had not?

Ruby gave her a small smile.

"It's pretty obvious from the way you look at her, the way you talk to her…"

Weiss gave a snort from her spot perched upon her bed.

"Everyone has been able to see it except for Blake, apparently," the heiress commented matter-of-factly.

"_Everyone_ knows?" Yang squeaked, feeling her face warm with embarrassment. She hadn't thought that she was being obvious at all with her hidden feelings…

"That's not important," Ruby replied hurriedly, waving her hands in front of Yang's face in order to regain her attention. "What _is_ important is that you're not too late, Yang. You just have to tell Blake how you feel!"

She groaned, mind being brought back to the awful reality she had already come to accept.

"They _are_ dating. It _is_ too late," she remarked sullenly, falling onto her back on top of Blake's bed, loathing the comforting scent of lavender that enveloped her from her partner's sheets.

"No, they're not! I just talked to Blake this afternoon and she only told me that she was going to 'hang out' with Sun tonight. That doesn't sound like a date, does it?"

Yang pushed herself back into a seated position at Ruby's disclosure, scanning her silver eyes closely to see if she was telling the truth or not.

"She really said that?" she pressed, watching for any reaction in her sister's eyes that would give away a lie.

"She really did," Ruby answered steadily, giving Yang a big grin. "So you still have a shot!"

For the first time in what felt like forever, Yang smiled. Yes, she could tell Blake how she felt…but…how did she feel exactly?

Her smile fell as she covered her face with her hands in despair.

"I have no idea what to say," she lamented, the words coming out muffled through her fingers.

"Just say what you feel!" Ruby said happily with a slight jab into Yang's side with her elbow. "Come on, why don't you practice? I know you can do this, Yang! You can win her over!"

Yang allowed Ruby to grab both of her hands and pull her to her feet. Now standing in between their bunk beds with Ruby bouncing in front of her, she sighed.

"I guess it can't hurt…" she replied in resignation.

Looking steadily at her sister, she tried to form sentences that explained how she felt for Blake.

"B-Blake…we've known each other for…"

Ruby let out a giggle, instantly breaking Yang's train of thought.

"Ruby! You can't laugh…" she whined while her little sister tried to compose herself.

"Sorry! Sorry, it's just kinda weird for you to be talking to me like I'm Blake! I mean – I am your sister and all…oh! Why don't you practice on Weiss instead?"

Ruby stepped off to the side and waved towards Weiss, who scoffed as she regarded the two of them over the top of the book she had been reading.

"Like you would have _any_ shot with me," the heiress commented while cooperatively sliding off her bed to take Ruby's spot.

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. If I wanted you, I could have you in no time," she replied playfully, sending Weiss a wink for good measure.

"Really? Like you have Blake?" Weiss shot back, eyes ablaze with indignation.

"Weiss!" Ruby scolded from her new spot on the heiress' bed – the reprimand instantly softening the look in Weiss' eyes.

"Sorry…" she continued gently, shooting an apologetic glance towards Ruby.

Yang watched the interaction with a smirk, not hurt in the least by Weiss' jab. She only hoped that Weiss could take as good as she could give…

"Don't worry, Weiss. I'll just remember that when you come to ask for my permission to date Ruby," she commented casually.

"WHAT?!" Ruby squeaked in surprise as Weiss leveled Yang with a look somewhere between a death glare and a plea for mercy.

Yang laughed good-naturally and waved a hand nonchalantly towards her little sister.

"Oh, I'm just kidding, Ruby, calm down," she replied easily, making sure Ruby had looked away before she sent another wink in Weiss' direction. The heiress blushed and glanced down at her feet, all of her prior fight suddenly gone.

"Let's just do this, please," Weiss snapped impatiently at them, clearly no longer enjoying their little game.

"Ok, ok," Yang replied, attempting to bring her focus back to the more pressing matter at hand.

Blake.

"Blake," she began again, trying to fool herself into thinking Weiss' clear blue eyes were amber instead. "I know this may come as a surprise to you, but I…I…ugh!"

She threw up her hands in frustration, spinning in a small circle before facing Weiss once more.

"It's ok, that's why you're practicing – to get all the bad ones out!" Ruby quipped from the side, trying to encourage her older sister in any way possible. Of course, it was Ruby, so it was unquestionably working. The tiny girl could make you believe you could wrestle a Beowolf blindfolded with both hands tied behind your back if she really wanted to.

Taking a deep breath, she refocused herself.

"Blake, I've wanted to tell you for so long how I feel about you…how I _really_ feel. But I could never find the right time or…or…"

"Gather the courage?" Weiss recommended helpfully, although the spark in her eyes suggested it might have been a little bit of an insult as well.

"Haha," Yang remarked dryly before turning to Ruby. "I really don't know what to say!"

"Maybe practicing the actual speech is too difficult right now. Just tell us what you _want_ to say, and maybe we can help you piece it together – right, Weiss?"

Weiss shrugged her shoulders with a slight nod, crossing her arms across her chest while she waited for Yang to respond.

"Ok…ok…what I _want_ to tell her…" Yang repeated, looking out the window as she thought deeply about what she would like to say.

"Well, I guess I would want to tell her that she's beautiful," she began, receiving Ruby's nod of approval that she was moving in the right direction before continuing. "Like, _really_ beautiful. The most beautiful person I've ever seen in my entire life."

She smiled when an image of her partner formed in her mind, giving her something to focus on while she paced back and forth on the small patch of floor between the two sets of beds.

"I love how passionate she is – not just about silly things though. She's not some goofy girl who only cares about clothes or shopping or anything. She cares about people, about the world. When she talks about how she wants to make the world a better place for _everyone_, I can't help but want to help her do that."

She felt a smile reappear while she continued talking, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders now that she could openly gush about the person she cared so much about.

"And she never gives up. Not in school, not in a fight – never. I mean, Ruby got admitted early, but she got admitted with _no_ prior academy training. That just tells you how dedicated she is. And when I'm with her…when I'm with her…"

She looked up at Ruby and Weiss, seeing the two girls staring at her with wide eyes.

"When I'm with her…I feel like I can do anything. Like we can do anything together. I want to spend all of my time with her – every single waking second of every day, in this life and the next. I want to be there to support her through the good and the bad, and I know that she would be there for me too. I don't just want to be her friend, I want to be her everything…just like she's mine…"

A long, content sigh whistled past her lips once she'd finished her rant. Those feelings had been pent up for a long, long time.

"So, what do you guys think?" she finally asked, glancing first at Weiss and then at Ruby, noticing that they were still giving her a rather strange look of shock.

"Uh…any thoughts at all would be helpful…" she continued, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the two girls.

Ruby finally cleared her throat, loudly, tilting her head forward in what was unmistakably a gesture towards the door to their room.

Turning around curiously, Yang felt her own jaw fall open when she found Blake standing right inside the door, bag still in hand while she openly stared at Yang.

"Uh…h-hi Blake!" she greeted her partner loudly with a wave, letting her hand slide down her hair when she realized how awkward the gesture was. "H-how was the movie?"

It was possible Blake hadn't heard that much, right? Maybe they could just brush right over this – it wasn't that big of a deal, after all. There was no need for them to actually talk about it…

"The movie was alright…" the Faunus girl finally replied before directing her eyes behind Yang. "Ruby, Weiss, do you think you guys could give us a few minutes?"

Yang turned back around at the sudden scramble behind her – watching as Ruby hastily pulled her shoes back on and sped towards the door.

"O-of course!" the brunette replied hastily, waving Weiss her way. "Weiss and I were just about to go for a walk anyway, weren't we?"

The heiress rolled her eyes slightly, mumbling a question about why they had to leave 'just when it was getting good' on her way out the door after her partner.

Blake pressed the door quietly shut behind their two teammates before turning back towards Yang, eyes alive with questions. Of course, Yang quickly looked away, unable to stand the way it felt like Blake could see right through her.

"So…uh…what movie did you guys see?" she asked in a last ditch effort to find a new topic of conversation.

She felt her body temperature rise when Blake stepped closer to her – something she had recently discovered was entirely out of her control when she was near the Faunus girl. It was as if her very aura was rejoicing in the girl's proximity.

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Blake replied softly, coming to a stop directly in front of Yang, the tips of their feet now only an inch apart. "Because when I came home, I overheard my partner saying how much she liked me and…now I can't think about anything other than that."

Yang's eyes snapped up, finding herself instantly lost in a sea of gold. A sea of twinkling, reassuring gold.

"Yang, why didn't you just say something earlier?" Blake asked.

"I…uh…thought it would be better to tell Ruby and…Weiss…first?" she answered, with a slight shudder at the realization that Weiss had actually been one of the first to know.

Blake gave a small smile and shake of her head, telling Yang to try another answer.

"I…didn't want to scare you away…" she answered honestly, feeling the fear she had been harboring all this time come bubbling back up to the surface now that the complete truth was out in the open.

What if Blake ran? What if she asked to be reassigned to another team? What if Yang lost the best friend she had ever had?

Two small hands sliding into her own brought her attention spinning back to the girl in front of her, who was gazing at her steadily.

"Do I look scared?"

The question was little more than a whisper, but it resounded through Yang's brain as if it had been shouted directly into her ear. She searched Blake's eyes, her posture, her smile, her happily flicking left ear – looking for something, anything, that would suggest the Faunus was on the verge of running.

But…there was nothing. Nothing but the cool, collected confidence Blake always possessed at the most stressful of times.

Yang couldn't even describe the feeling that spread throughout her body at that moment – realizing that her feelings were returned. By the most elusive student at Beacon, no less.

"So…maybe you could actually tell me how you feel? Instead of Weiss and Ruby…" Blake asked quietly, a small blush dusting her cheeks at the request.

The fear and uncertainty of just a few minutes ago had been completely washed away. A grin lit up her face as she squeezed Blake's hands more tightly in her own.

"Blake," she began confidently, voice ringing clear with the affection she had hidden for so long, "I don't want to just be your friend anymore…I want to be your…everything."

Her heart threatened to burst when Blake pulled her into a tender hug and whispered three words Yang would never forget for the rest of her life.

"You already are."


	4. Unagi

**Just a random little idea based on the prompt 'unagi.' (Why do I have such weird prompts?) Short and sweet, hope everyone enjoys!**

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><p>"Blake, what the hell is this?"<p>

Yang wrinkled her nose as she used her chopsticks to pick up the small mound of rice covered in a thin layer of fish.

"Eww…it looks like a piece of tire tread," Ruby said while peering down at her own piece, poking it lightly with the end of her chopstick.

"That's unagi, you colossal oaf," Weiss responded condescendingly to Yang's question.

Yang just looked at Blake in confusion.

"Freshwater eel," she clarified, only for Yang's eyes to grow even wider in horror.

"You expect me to eat EEL?"

Blake couldn't remember a time when Yang had ever squealed in such a high pitched voice.

She nodded her head resolutely.

"Yes. It was my turn to pick the restaurant and I picked sushi. Are you telling me that the _fearless_ Yang Xiao Long is afraid of a little, _tiny_ eel?"

Blake smirked. No way was Yang going to allow her to get away with calling her scared - not without a fight, at least.

"Well…I just don't want to eat it and then make Ruby feel bad for being the only one not eating it!"

Ruby choked on her water in dismay.

"I didn't say I wouldn't eat it!" she whined. "I will…definitely eat that…"

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend in surprise.

"Well, are you going to let your little sister show you up?" Weiss asked, sending a smirk in Yang's direction.

"Uh…No! Of course I'll eat it if Ruby does!" Yang replied, voice much more confident than she actually appeared.

Blake rolled her eyes and popped a piece of tuna into her mouth.

_God, this place has the best tuna_…she thought as she watched Yang and Ruby pick up their pieces of unagi in unison. Too bad she only got one piece…

The two huntresses in training (who were each capable of leveling entire city blocks without even breaking a sweat) stared at their tiny pieces of sushi with unease. Each looked at the other, waiting for someone to go first.

After several long seconds with no progress, Weiss had finally had enough.

"Oh for the love of God…it's not going to kill you," she huffed as she picked up her own piece of unagi and shoved the entire thing in her mouth.

The heiress immediately began choking as she inhaled a piece of stray rice into her throat. Ruby and Yang threw their own food back down on their plates, with the brunette pounding on Weiss' back in an attempt to clear her throat.

"Nope, not touching that," Yang conceded as she turned back to Blake. "I'll just owe you one for this," she finished with a sheepish smile.

"I know what you can do for me…" Blake replied in a low voice as she leaned closer to Yang, causing the blonde's eyes to widen in excitement.

While Ruby continued to pat Weiss' back and ask if the heiress was going to be ok, Blake whispered her request into Yang's ear, making sure to let her lips lightly tickle the girl's earlobe while she spoke.

Yang grinned as she pulled away, nodding in acceptance of Blake's request.

"Hey…Ruby…did you know that tunas will eat their own young?"

The brunette groaned and pushed her plate away in disgust, allowing Blake to quickly snatch the piece of tuna and pop it into her mouth with a smile.


	5. A Very RWBY Christmas

**Happy holidays everyone! My gift to you is...some more bees and roses :)**

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><p>"Ok, we now commence the second annual Team RWBY Christmas Gift Exchange!" Ruby proclaimed gleefully while the four of them sat on the floor between their beds, each with one wrapped gift sitting in their lap. "I expect even greater things this year, since we know each other much better –"<p>

"And like each other more," Yang added with a pointed wink in Weiss' direction.

"Hey! I _liked_ all of you well enough last year," the heiress refuted.

"Weiss, you gave Ruby an alarm clock," Blake commented, causing the girl to ruffle.

"There's nothing wrong with waking up on time for classes…" the heiress muttered under her breath.

_"Anyway_," Ruby cut back in, sending Weiss a forgiving smile, "This past year has been full of big changes for all of us. This Christmas will just prove how far we've come!"

"So…without further ado, Blake - why don't you open your gift from Yang first?" their team leader suggested, waving one hand in the Faunus girl's direction.

"Well, it certainly can't be _worse_ than last year," Blake remarked while picking up the oddly shaped package and searching for the edge of the wrapping paper.

"Hey! I got you the perfect present last year!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Yang, that book was _extremely_ vulgar," the Faunus girl responded, giving her partner a disapproving glance.

"I know you still read it," Yang replied with a defiant smirk. "AND, I think it's still hidden under your bed. I bet I could find it…"

Blake quickly reached out and stopped her partner before the girl could shuffle under the bed towards her hidden stash of books.

"Let's just see what you got me this year," she remarked quietly, face now fully flushed in embarrassment.

Yang sat back down with a grin and watched Blake pull off the wrapping paper to reveal…

"An oven mitt?" Blake asked in confusion, holding the thick red glove up for everyone else to see.

"Yup!" Yang responded with a megawatt smile as Blake tentatively slipped the gift onto one of her hands. "Because I'm _too hot to handle_."

The blonde chuckled at her joke as Weiss gave a loud scoff of disbelief.

"You could _also_ use it as a hand warmer to handle Weiss," Yang added cheekily.

Blake smiled and poked Weiss in the shoulder with the mitt, earning herself a small glare.

"I love it," the Faunus girl responded sincerely. "It's very…you. And Ruby, you can borrow it whenever you want."

"Ha ha," Weiss replied dryly while Yang nearly rolled on the floor with laughter.

"Ruby, why don't you go next?" Weiss suggested after shooting another scowl towards the still-chuckling blonde.

Their team leader didn't need to be told twice – practically diving at her gift and tearing off the wrapping paper in a single, solid movement.

"Wowwwww…" was all Ruby could say when she opened the square, flat box that had been revealed. Turning the box towards Blake and Yang, an extravagant necklace could be seen lying upon a white silk pillow. Hanging upon a pure silver chain hung the largest ruby either of them had ever seen, sparkling when the light hit it from above.

"Woah…Weiss, that's beautiful," Blake commented in awe.

"Yeah, it really is gorgeous, Weiss…" Yang replied slowly, "But I believe the gift limit was 50 lien, not 50 million!"

"I didn't spend a single lien on it," Weiss answered proudly. "My family owns the store, so I got it for free."

"Oh, yeah I get it," Yang said, voice dripping in fake understanding. "So your family only dropped like a billion lien to buy the store, so that you could swipe a free necklace."

"I know you don't know how business works, Yang, but my family doesn't just go around buying things willy nilly. You have to look at the operating margins, profit ratios…"

"Woah, woah, enough with the mumble jumble!" Yang hastily said, raising both hands out in front of her in order to cut the heiress off. "You cheated and broke the gift limit, that's all I'm saying."

"I did _not_ cheat," Weiss huffed back at the girl in agitation. "I followed the rules _precisely_ as they were laid out. It's not _my_ fault –"

Her words abruptly ceased when an oven mitt was placed over her mouth. Too surprised to process what had just happened, the heiress let it remain there for several seconds before forcefully pushing the hand away.

"Seems to work pretty well," Blake replied with a sly grin, earning an enthusiastic high five from her snickering girlfriend.

"I love it, Weiss, thank you!" Ruby commented loudly, leaning into Weiss' side in order to regain the glowering girl's attention. Weiss' irritation instantly diffused when she looked into adoring, silver eyes.

"Open yours now!" the brunette directed excitedly.

Weiss smiled before turning her attention to the gift in her own lap. Picking it up, she spun the box around while observing it from every angle. Finding the perfect seam she began meticulously peeling back the wrapping paper, as if afraid that any wrinkle might damage the present inside.

"Oh just open it, princess!" Yang voiced out in exasperation, making Weiss roll her eyes and move even slower.

When the box was finally opened, she lifted her gift out and eyed it curiously.

"It's a…ball?" she asked quizzically.

"I made it!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "It's not a _ball _ball though. It's actually a mold for your semblance – you just fill it with snow and it'll make a perfect snowball! See it unlatches right there in the middle…"

Weiss spun the contraction around several times in her hand, examining every inch of it carefully. Finally figuring out exactly how to use it, she grinned – filling the sphere with snow and flinging a soft, powdery snowball in Yang's direction an instant later.

"Hey!" Yang yelled when the projectile hit her in the chest, exploding into droplets of water when the blonde fired up her semblance at the last second in self-defense.

"Incredible," Weiss remarked, turning the device over in her hands before giving Ruby a big smile. "Ruby, you're a genius."

"I don't think giving her a weapon was the best idea," Yang commented glumly, still brushing droplets of water off of her clothes.

"Open your gift, oaf," Weiss retorted while placing her own present carefully back in its box.

Shrugging her shoulders, Yang complied and unwrapped her gift from Blake – taking Ruby's approach of ripping into the box as quickly as possible.

"Ohhh…awesome!" she replied, holding up a small pair of darkly tinted glasses. "Are these those night vision glasses you were telling me about?"

Blake nodded her head while Ruby excitedly reached out one hand towards her sister, wanting to see the new device.

"These are great!" the brunette exclaimed while examining them in her hands. "Now when we're on night hunts, Yang will stop running into things and blowing our cover!"

Weiss gazed skeptically at the glasses in Ruby's hands, her mind running through some mental calculations.

"Uh…I'm pretty sure that _those_ cost more than 50 lien," the heiress commented, still frosty from having been called a cheater earlier.

"Who said I paid for them," Blake responded deadpan, giving the girl an amused gaze.

Yang instantly burst out laughing as she reached across and reclaimed her gift from Ruby.

"Ohhh stolen glasses!" the blonde remarked playfully, "That's perfectly in the spirit of Christmas!"

Weiss looked at Blake in shock.

"You didn't really…_steal_ those, did you?" she asked in astonishment, causing Ruby to start laughing beside her.

"Of course Blake didn't steal them, Weiss!" she replied knowledgeably. "She traded Nora for them."

"Traded…?"

"Yeah, haven't you noticed the horribly inappropriate things Nora's been saying recently?" the brunette asked.

"Well, yes, but I thought she'd just gotten her hands on some really bad…romance…novels…"

All three girls turned towards Blake, who was avoiding direct eye contact with any of them.

"They weren't _that_ bad…" the girl whispered as she flushed deeply.

"Did you give her the one I gave you?" Yang asked in concern.

"Of course not!" Blake responded hastily, turning her eyes towards Yang only to find the blonde now grinning in triumph at having gotten Blake to admit that she still had the book.

"Wow, you two are just made for each other," Weiss commented sarcastically when she saw the look the two girls were exchanging. "When's the wedding?"

"Probably after yours since we don't have access to free engagement rings," Yang shot back with a smirk, instantly turning Weiss' face red.

"They aren't -!" Weiss began, shutting off her words when Yang raised an eyebrow at her.

"They aren't what, Weiss?" the blonde asked sweetly. "They aren't…free?"

Weiss scowled, summoning another snowball using her semblance and flinging it towards Yang. The brawler lifted up one hand to block the object, melting the ball of snow instantly. The water splashed against Yang's shoulder while she let out a laugh and blocked the second one.

"Hey! Guys! No snowball fights in the room!" Ruby whined, jumping up onto Weiss' bed to dodge a small puff of flames headed her way.

"She started it!" Yang shouted, her shirt now covered in water.

"You provoked me!" Weiss refuted, her next snowball misfiring and flying directly towards Blake's head.

Yang reacted rapidly, holding up her hand to save her partner just in time. Unfortunately, while Yang managed to prevent the snow from hitting Blake in the face, she didn't manage to keep the water it became from dousing Blake's hair and ears.

All motion in the room froze as everyone's attention focused on Blake.

Yang slowly dropped her hand, grimacing when she noticed the Faunus girl's ears flicking in agitation as they tried to rid themselves of the water.

"Yang…" Blake began, voice low and dangerous.

"Y-yeah?" the blonde answered nervously.

"Hold my oven mitt."

Ruby burst into giggles when Blake shoved her gift into Yang's chest for the blonde to take with a grin. Weiss immediately went back on the offensive as Blake dove towards her, shadow clones dancing around the room while snowballs were fired in every direction – showering the room in bursts of snow or water, depending on whether or not Yang managed to get a hand on them before they hit a surface.

The four of them laughed uncontrollably while they flew around the room, jumping off of the walls and furniture while dodging snowballs, puffs of smoke, shadow clones, and pillows.

And, unlike last year, there was nowhere they'd rather be than with each other.


	6. An Important Question Part 1 of 2

**Random little idea I had. This is a two part-er - I'll post the second part in just a little bit! **

**Enjoy and happy new year!**

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><p>"Yang...I asked you to meet me here because...well, because I have an important question to ask you."<p>

Ordinarily, Weiss wouldn't be intimidated in the least by the blonde brawler standing in front of her. She knew better than most that Yang could appear fiery and stubborn, but she was actually quite reasonable in most matters.

Except when those matters involved a certain bubbly brunette...the same brunette Weiss had been dating for years now.

It was Yang's overprotectiveness that worried Weiss the most right now, contributing much more to Weiss' small shivers than the cold air outside.

"I...well, I know we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on everything, but I still felt it right to ask you before I proceeded any further," she continued, threading her fingers together in front of her skirt in the hope that Yang wouldn't catch sight of the slight tremors running through them.

Taking one last, deep breath, she took the plunge - knowing that how Yang responded would greatly impact the rest of their lives.

"I would like to ask Ruby to marry me," she let out in one rushed breath. "I-I mean...if it's ok with you."

She could hear her heart beating wildly while she waited for a response.

Yang regarded her carefully, eyes searching Weiss' while formulating an answer. Years of combat had mellowed the girl's nature tremendously, especially when it came to dealing with a certain high strung heiress. It probably helped that Blake seemed to be rubbing off on the girl, however slightly.

The situation where Yang emphatically said 'yes!' flew out the window while Weiss continued waiting for a response. She had never been more nervous in her life - which was ludicrous in itself because she had dealt with some of Remnant's most villainous creatures - man and Grimm alike. But here she was, very literally shaking in her boots while waiting for the older sister of the girl she had been dating for _three_ years to give her permission to make Weiss the happiest person in the world.

"No."

She blinked, not sure that she had heard her teammate correctly.

"Did you just say...no?" she asked incredulously, feeling her heart begin to pound even more loudly when Yang confirmed her answer.

"Sure did, princess," the blonde replied, giving her a solemn smile. "No, you do not have my permission to marry Ruby."

Going from nervous to completely floored in a matter of seconds, Weiss could feel her incredulity at the reply kick into high gear.

"But why not?"

She knew that she and Yang didn't have the _best_ relationship in the world. They gave each other a hard time...well, most of the time...and were constantly getting into arguments about one thing or another. But, at the end of the day, they were teammates and (Weiss had thought) good friends. They had risked their lives for each other multiple times, each having taken blows meant for the other.

When Yang and Blake had started their own relationship, she had supported them wholeheartedly - happy that the two girls had developed a bond that couldn't be broken no matter what came between them. And Yang had always seemed to accept Weiss as Ruby's girlfriend. Even though Yang made fun of Ruby's choice too many times to count, Weiss had always figured that those were just jokes...aimed at embarrassing Ruby more than anything else.

"Because marrying you wouldn't be good for her," Yang responded plainly, her expression not giving away any hint that this was just another infamous joke.

"W-what do you mean?" Weiss cried out. Ordinarily, she would have been annoyed at the accusation, which was so clearly false. But in this instance, she felt nothing but distress.

How could Yang say such a thing? Did she really believe that getting married would harm Ruby in some way?

"Yang, I love Ruby more than anyone or anything on this planet. I love her so much it's painful sometimes. I _promise_ that I will take care of her...forever. I'd never do anything to hurt her..."

Her eyes searched Yang's fervently, praying that her words had made an impact on the blonde's decision.

In all her preparation for today, she had thought that it would be possible that Yang would say no, but only as a joke to get Weiss riled up. She had never seriously considered that Yang would say no and _mean_ it.

"What happens when she marries you then? Huh?" Yang asked, eyes beginning to take on a slight red tinge now that her answer had been challenged. "You parade her around at event after event - lock her up in some rigid social status that prevents her from being who she really is?"

"I would _never_ expect her to be anyone else!" Weiss protested loudly.

"Oh really?" Yang asked with feigned interest, hardly giving Weiss anytime at all to respond to the accusations. "So does the _great_ Schnee family allow their princesses to go raid candy shops at midnight? Or wear their capes around their head like a ninja out in public? Or jump in the fountains in the park just because?"

"Well, no, but those rules wouldn't really apply to…"

"What happens when she embarrasses you in public? Makes a complete fool of herself? As your girlfriend, it's ok for her to make mistakes,but as your wife...it won't be acceptable."

"I don't care if someone thinks it's unacceptable. People are allowed to make mistakes."

Her answer was firm, but her mind was reeling from the questions Yang had just fired at her.

She knew that she loved Ruby and wanted to be with the girl for the rest of her life, but they didn't necessarily have to be married to do that...it was just a nice gesture that Weiss had thought would solidify their promises to each other. But with everything that Yang had just brought up…how the expectations placed upon Ruby would change as soon as they were officially married...

Was this a mistake?

"She won't ever fit into the role of heiress to anything," Yang said softly, as if trying to let Weiss down easily now that the true destruction had already been done.

Why it was that sentence that made Weiss crack, she would never know. But her confusion, her anxiety, her distress, all instantly disappeared as Yang's last words still hung in the air. In their place roared an emotion that Weiss was all too familiar with - anger.

"I don't want her to be an heiress!" she shouted in Yang's face, making the blonde take a small step backward in surprise as the air surrounding them grew even colder from Weiss' wrath.

"I _know _that she'll embarrass me. I _know_ that she'll make of fool out of herself and out of me more times than we'll be able to count. I know that she's not perfect and that she'll make mistakes - but guess what, Yang? I don't care. I don't expect her to change and I don't _want _her to change!"

"I don't care what my family thinks or what the public thinks. I don't care if everyday there's front page news calling me a colossal idiot. I don't care if the history books say that I was the stupidest person to ever run a giant corporation. I don't care because I'll have Ruby by my side and that's _all I'll ever need_!"

She felt her fumes begin to dissipate as tears fought to make their presence felt behind her eyes. Her anger quickly simmered down to a small smoulder, one that had burnt through its kindling far too quickly.

This was supposed to have been the easy part…

"I don't ever want her to be anyone else...I don't ever want her to be someone she isn't…"

Her words came out no more than a whisper while a great battle continued to surge within her heart. Feeling a heavy hand fall onto her shoulder, she looked up into Yang's serious, lilac eyes.

"If you don't want her to have to change, then you shouldn't ask her to marry you," the blonde concluded.

The words brought the tears spilling from her eyes, stopping her heart for a few painful seconds.

She hadn't thought about what the pressure of being under the Schnee name could do, since she had long ago been immunized to its effects. She was used to watching her behavior in public and minding her manners in any situation where a camera might be present. She knew which utensils to use for each dish in a seven course meal...how to do the perfect ballroom waltz...how to properly greet a dignitary from any region of Remnant...but Ruby most certainly didn't know those things - nor would Weiss ever expect her to.

But as a Schnee, the public would expect Ruby to know all of those things and more.

"I won't."

And just like that, her dream of marrying the girl she loved crumbled into ashes.

She tried to convince herself that it wasn't all bad - it wasn't like they had to break up or anything. They could still keep dating each other, living together and seeing each other everyday. Nothing had to change at all. It could all just stay the same as it currently was. And maybe later...maybe later she could think about this again.

It had just seemed like such a romantic thing to do...something that Ruby would really appreciate. A way to tell Ruby and the rest of the world that Weiss' heart belonged to one person, and one person only.

But it was just a dream.

She allowed Yang to wrap her into a hug, appreciative of the girl's warm embrace even though the blonde had just been the one to stomp all over Weiss' heart. But Yang had pointed out valid points...all valid…

"Weiss…" Yang whispered before pulling away and looking at her with a grin.

"If you're willing to throw your own happiness away just to keep Ruby from having the change...of course I'll give you my permission to marry her."

Time seemed to stand still while Weiss stared at the smiling blonde before the words fully etched themselves into her mind.

"W-WHAT?" she screeched shrilly, landing a solid punch on the blonde's left shoulder in agitation. "You were playing with me that entire time? You made me agree _not_ to marry her!"

Yang chuckled while rubbing her shoulder gently.

"I just...wanted to make sure you would protect her, that's all," she replied apologetically with a small shrug of her shoulders. "We fight against Grimm everyday and...they don't judge you when you miss a shot or blow an attack. But...public relations? That's not really Ruby's thing."

Weiss nodded her head, unsure when her heart would ever slow down after the whirlwind of emotions Yang had just subjected her to.

"I won't let them try to change her and...I won't ever try to change her," she answered definitively. "She's perfect - just the way she is."

"That's all I needed to hear, future sis-in-law," Yang responded with a big smile, wrapping one strong arm around Weiss' shoulders. "Now how about we go back inside before you catch hypothermia or something?"

Weiss didn't complain while Yang lead them both off of the cold rooftop Weiss had decided to use as a meeting place (Ruby had the worst habit of stumbling into rooms and overhearing secret conversations, after all).

"So...how are you going to ask her?" Yang asked while they made their way back down the staircase to the top floor of the sprawling manor where Weiss and Ruby currently lived.

"I was thinking I'd tie the ring to a boarbatusk, release it into the forest, then have her track it down for me."

"That is _so_ not romantic…" Yang replied with a laugh. "But Ruby will absolutely love it."

"I'll love what?"

Yang and Weiss both jumped in surprise when Ruby suddenly appeared in front of them, thankfully only having overheard the last part of their conversation.

"You'll love the cake I had specially made for you," Weiss responded fluidly. "It's in the fridge downstairs."

The brunette let out an excited squeal and wrapped Weiss in a quick hug before flying away from them, leaving some of the picture frames in the hallway slightly askew in her wake.

"Uh...that was quick thinking, Weiss," Yang replied, eyes still widened in surprise. "But I hope that you actually do have a cake for her?"

Weiss scoffed lightly, pulling away from the blonde's arm in order to walk in the trail of drifting rose petals towards the kitchen.

"Please, Yang…" she said, turning around to give her friend a quick grin.

"I have _three_ bakeries on speed dial - I'm always prepared for times like this."


	7. An Important Question Part 2 of 2

**This turned out longer than expected for just a random idea...but here's the second and last part! I don't usually write White Rose, but this was kind of fun.**

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><p>"Stay <em>still<em> you stupid, wretched, _worthless_ beast!"

She slammed the palm of her hand against the bars of the cage in frustration when the boarbatusk spun away from her for what must be the twentieth time. Pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, she took a slow, even breath to calm her rapidly frying nerves.

She did _not_ have time for this. Ruby was currently upstairs absorbed in that silly cartoon show she loved to watch, but as soon as it ended she would fly back to Weiss' side. The ring needed to be on the boarbatusk and the disgusting creature on its way out the door _before_ that happened.

How badly she wanted to use Myrtenaster and blast the despicable Grimm to smithereens...but then she would have to come up with a completely _new_ plan to propose to Ruby - something she couldn't do when she had already told Yang that she would be proposing _tonight._

Plus, she really didn't want to be finding bits of boarbatusk scattered about their living room for the next few weeks.

Pulling her weapon from her side, she tossed it lightly in the air, feeling the comforting cold steel hum in her grasp as the metal reacted to her familiar aura. Turning back to the boarbatusk, an idea finally formed in her mind.

Spinning the dial on Myrtenaster until it smoothly landed upon the blue vial of dust, she pointed the tip towards the foul animal's legs while focusing her mind around her semblance. A thin stream of ice began to emerge from the end of her sabre, wrapping itself around the boarbatusk's front legs. The animal let out a loud squeal of distress as its front legs were effectively frozen into place.

Surely, she should have thought of this earlier. Thankfully, no one else had been around to witness her repeated failed attempts to tie a ring box onto a boarbatusk tusk.

Now that the beast had ceased its incessant spinning in the large cage sitting in the middle of their living room floor, she was able to successfully reach in and grab ahold of one tusk, using her free hand to securely attach the small ring box with a special loop of wire that she had been assured would not fly off no matter how much bucking the creature did.

Finally finished with that part of the plan, she straightened and dusted her hands off, wanting to go wash them of this animal's filth as soon as possible.

But now for the slightly more difficult part...getting the boarbatusk to run straight outside and _not_ crash through their home. She needed something that would direct the creature and prevent it from taking any course other than the one Weiss set for it…

Drawing upon her semblance once again, she carefully sculpted two lines of icicles running in parallel lines from the front door directly to the cage opening. She would just have to destroy evidence of the ice before Ruby got downstairs.

Finally feeling prepared, she nodded once in satisfaction at her work before drawing one last, deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

After unlatching the cage, she broke the ice holding the boarbatusk's legs. Once freed, the Grimm made a beeline for the exit, screeching for the entire house to hear as it tore through the chute of ice Weiss had created. Within seconds, it burst through the front door, causing her to cringe as splinters of expensive mahogany flew in every direction.

The door's sacrifice would be worth it - she was (almost) positive.

"Ruby!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to sound as panicked as possible while she cast the icicles and wire cage hastily to pieces and blew them into the corner of the room to be collected later.

"What happened?"

Just as Weiss had expected, Ruby appeared less than a second later - a gust of rose scented air blowing over her from the girl's semblance.

"There was boarbatusk in the house!" she shouted, trying to perfect a tone somewhere between annoyance and frustration. "I think his tusk hooked onto one of my necklaces!"

"Don't worry, Weiss! I will track him down and retrieve your stolen necklace!" Ruby gave her an exaggerated bow that didn't fit the mood at all, causing Weiss to crack a smile while the girl flew back upstairs for Crescent Rose and crashed through the remainder of the door a second later - leaving an even larger hole in its extravagant frame.

"Dolt...you could have at least opened the door…" she muttered, shaking her head.

Now that Ruby was on the hunt, she knew it was only a matter of minutes before she would have to do the hardest part of the evening - propose.

She began wearing a track in the living room floor while she paced rapidly back and forth across the carpet, mind swirling with all of the possible things she should say to the woman she loved.

How happy Ruby made her each day.

How much she adored all of the stupid, silly things the girl would do - even when they resulted in a mess for Weiss to clean up.

How Weiss could no longer walk by a single rosebush without stopping to take in the scent.

How much Ruby had changed her life for the better, whether she realized it or not.

How much she loved her…

A loud clock striking the hour finally drew her from her thoughts. She glanced at the timepiece closely, confused at the time it read. It couldn't possibly be six already...because if it was, that meant Ruby had been gone for half an hour.

Dread began seeping into her veins while she rapidly calculated how long it should have taken Ruby to track down the creature, find the box, and make it back to the house. The boarbatusk had only had a thirty second headstart, at best, and it would be making a terrible ruckus when it made it into the woods past the backyard - Ruby would have had no trouble tracking down such a rambunctious animal. Unless…

Unless Ruby had run into trouble.

Cursing under her breath, she headed towards the front door at a sprint, hand lightly brushing against Mytenaster as she instinctually checked to make sure her weapon was still by her side.

She was an idiot. A complete fool.

She had sent Ruby out into the forest - at night and alone. Depending on how far the boarbatusk had managed to travel, it could have lured Ruby into the more dangerous section of woods - the part filled with hordes of Nevermores and Death Stalkers.

"Hey, want to marry me, Ruby? No? Ok, how about I get you killed, instead," she muttered angrily at herself as she jumped through the shattered wreckage of what had once been their front door.

"Looking for something?"

"Jesus!" Weiss shouted in surprise while jumping as far away from the unexpected voice as possible. Turning around, she found Blake leaning against the outer wall of the house, tossing a familiar looking box casually up in the air.

"What are you - ? How did you - ? What are you doing here?" she finally managed to spit out while her heart tried to resume its normal speed of beating.

Blake smirked at her flustered response, crossing her arms over her chest in a very Yang-like display of having the upper hand.

"You didn't _really_ think that you were going to propose to Ruby without a certain, overbearing sister being present...did you?"

"I...uh...well...yes?" Weiss didn't know what else to say, having gone from fearful for Ruby's life to fearful for her own in less than two seconds.

Blake laughed at the answer, which was at least honest. The Faunus girl took a step forward, extending the small box towards Weiss with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't even know she's there."

The instant the box touched Weiss' hand, she felt her pulse skyrocket - quickly reaching speeds faster than when she had thought Ruby might be in danger. Accepting Blake's assurance with a nervous smile, she glanced quickly around them, noticing a conspicuous absence of the aforementioned blonde or Ruby.

"Uh...where…?" Weiss managed to ask before Blake nodded in the direction of the woods - to a small path Weiss knew by heart.

Stepping forward, she allowed her feet to guide her to the place she knew Ruby would be waiting for her.

If nothing else, Yang at least had good taste in romantic locations…

Blake followed Weiss across the lawn, but as soon as Weiss ducked underneath the first tree branch at the very edge of the woods, the girl mysteriously vanished from her side.

Rolling her eyes at the girl's propensity to disappear without a trace, she continued onward by herself - knowing that Blake and Yang were nearby, but not knowing exactly where. Which was just as well, because proposing was already going to be difficult enough _without_ her two teammates there to watch her stumble over her words.

She slowed down when she was near her destination. Through the leaves up ahead, she could just make out the small clearing at the end of the path - not thirty yards from the very edge of the forest. It was close enough to the house to still be safe, while far enough away to block out any noise except for the wind gently rustling the leaves overhead.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, she crept the last remaining steps. And when she had finally made it to the small clearing, her eyes instantly found Ruby.

The brunette had her back turned to Weiss while she sat upon the small bench they had placed in the center of the clearing over a year ago. What was left of the day's sun filtered through the break in the forest canopy up above - the dying light casting the girl's hair in a beautiful auburn glow. Ruby's head was tilted back as she gazed up into the sky, seemingly lost in deep thought.

Firmly grasping the ring box in one hand, Weiss walked slowly out from the cover of the trees. Circling the edge of the bench, Ruby didn't even notice her presence until Weiss was standing directly in front of her.

"Oh, hey Weiss!" the brunette said, giving Weiss one of those big, carefree smiles that melted away any ice that might have collected upon her heart.

"Took you long enough - I thought maybe you'd gotten lost or something!"

"Oh...uh...I'm sorry?" she answered in confusion, the comment throwing her completely off balance in its unexpectedness.

Ruby just laughed at her answer, the easygoing nature of hers continuing to prove just how polar opposite the two of them were.

"You said you'd meet me here, remember? Pretty clever - making me think a boarbatusk had stolen one of your necklaces just to give me a cryptic message!"

Ruby held out a small slip of paper in Weiss' direction, which she hesitantly accepted. Scrawled on the front in what looked eerily like her own handwriting it said, 'Meet me at our favorite spot in fifteen minutes.'

Of course, due to Weiss losing track of time back at the house, she was now ten minutes late for the rendezvous she had never set up.

"I'm sorry I'm late," she murmured apologetically.

"Don't be!" Ruby responded with a laugh, patting the bench beside her in invitation. "It's gorgeous outside tonight, so I didn't mind waiting. Plus, you're more than worth waiting for."

Comments like those always set a flush upon Weiss' face, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. What was almost worse was that Ruby was completely oblivious to the effect she caused with such statements. To the brunette, they were simple truths, meant to be uttered in the same breaths as any other.

To Weiss, they were declarations of true love - the type of love so unimaginable and inconceivable, she would never believe it to exist if she didn't feel it for Ruby in return.

When she sat beside Ruby, she realized that she was not nervous because she was worried that the brunette would say 'no' - she was absolutely certain that the girl would say yes, because Ruby loved Weiss just as much as Weiss loved her.

No, she was nervous because this was her chance. An opportunity she had been waiting to appear for quite some time. Because she wasn't like Ruby. She couldn't just make those simple declarations on a whim without even realizing it - she had to plan, prepare, and practice before doing anything of the sort.

But she wanted Ruby to know precisely how much she loved her. And this proposal would be the culmination of all that work - one giant proclamation of love versus the daily ones Ruby gave her.

So it _was_ a big deal...to her, at least. She couldn't just 'wing it' like Yang had so astutely suggested several days ago.

It had to be right.

"Ruby…" she began, her voice coming out no louder than a whisper while her heart pounded in her ears. "Do you remember the day we became partners?"

The memory instantly lit up Ruby's face with a brilliant smile.

"Of course I do! It was one of the best days of my life!" the brunette responded joyfully, clearly not remembering any of the negative things Weiss had said to her on that day. But Ruby never seemed to remember the bad - something Weiss was eternally grateful for.

"I still remember how upset I was to get 'stuck' with you," she continued, finding it easier to speak when recalling a memory like this. "I thought that you were too young and immature to even be at the school."

"Well, I _was_ both of those things," Ruby added with a laugh at her own expense.

"I know...but when I think about how I treated you back then...well, I wish that I could go back in time and slap myself."

Ruby turned towards her, silver eyes catching the evening sun and reflecting it back to Weiss. Her expression was the same as it always was when Weiss spoke about these things - pure forgiveness.

"I just...I certainly didn't know it at the time, but that was one of the best days of my life, too."

Grinning at the revelation, Ruby leaned over and bumped her shoulder gently into Weiss' in happiness.

Sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, just as she had been taught in her breathing exercises, she decided that it was now or never.

And never certainly wasn't an option.

"I've been so blessed, Ruby, to be your partner for all these years."

Her voice was shaking now as she unlocked feelings that she normally kept under very firm control.

"I...when I got to Beacon, I wanted to have the _best_ partner. The strongest, the most accomplished - someone who had already made a name for themselves - a name to go alongside my own."

"Like Pyrrha," Ruby quipped, already knowing that Pyrrha had been Weiss' desired partner when they had first been launched into the Emerald Forest.

"Yes…like Pyrrha…" she admitted once again, shaking her head slightly at how naive she had been back then.

"But, I could never, _ever,_ have imagined that the short, fast, awkward little prodigy wearing a goofy red cape would end up being the best partner I ever could have wished for."

Ruby beamed at the comment, which gave Weiss the courage to continue. She turned sideways on the bench, with Ruby matching her movement so that they were both now sitting crosslegged facing each other. Reaching out, Weiss grabbed ahold of one of Ruby's hands, grasping it firmly in order to mask the slight tremors running through her own.

"Do you have any idea how thankful I am that it was you I found first in that forest?" she asked in a whisper, gazing deeply into calming pools of liquid silver.

"You've made my life better in every way imaginable...you've made me strive to become a better person - a better friend, a better daughter...and everyday I get to wake up beside you, I know that I'm the luckiest person alive."

In an uncharacteristic display of restraint, Ruby didn't immediately comment, somehow feeling that she should be silent and give Weiss the opportunity to say everything she wanted to say first.

"S-so I thought recently that I have everything I could possibly wish for, but there's still one little thing that would just be the cherry on top of our already amazing life together...a-and...that would be i-if...if I could call you my wife."

She momentarily dropped Ruby's hand while she held the small box in front of them, snapping it open with shaking hands to reveal an exquisite diamond ring shimmering inside. Ruby stared at the item as if it were the world's largest chocolate chip cookie - eyes wide as saucers with one hand raised to her mouth in shock.

"Ruby...will you marry me?"

Not one full second passed before a delightful squeal of glee emanated from the brunette as she threw herself at Weiss for a smothering hug, nearly knocking the ring right out of Weiss' hands.

"Yes! Of course I'll marry you, Weiss!"

Weiss had never imagined just how _happy_ hearing those words would make her. It was like all of the times Ruby said 'I love you' rolled into one giant, gleeful package. She knew she was probably grinning like a complete idiot at that moment when Ruby pulled away and allowed Weiss to clumsily slip the new ring onto her finger, but she really didn't care.

She had said yes.

They were going to get married.

As soon as the ring was securely in place, the brunette surprised Weiss with a loving kiss on the lips. It was then that Weiss heard the loud 'whoop' of happiness coming from the trees surrounding them - suddenly reminding Weiss that they had had an audience this entire time.

Ruby heard the sound too and looked around them in surprise.

"Yang?"

Rustling branches nearby caught their attention just as a grinning blonde and her partner emerged from the tree line. The instant Ruby caught sight of her older sister, she jumped off of the bench and dashed into the brawler's strong embrace. Weiss stood and walked over to Blake, who was shaking her hand lightly as if it were in pain.

"I thought we weren't going to know you were here."

"That was the plan…" Blake replied slowly, sending a small glare in Yang's direction. "But she became pretty uncontrollable as soon as you made that 'cherry' comment - "

"You described your relationship like a hot fudge sundae, Weiss!" the blonde said as she burst into laughter, causing Weiss' cheeks to burn in embarrassment.

"I...I say things so in a way I know she'll understand!" she shot back in her defense, earning herself a blown kiss from her new fiancée while Yang continued to laugh.

"Anyway...I managed to restrain her until Ruby said yes...but then she...bit me."

Blake held up her hand which, sure enough, was indented with two rows of red bite marks.

Yang sputtered when everyone look at her in shock, clearly not having expected to be judged for her action.

"But you see...I...well...my little sister just got engaged! I had to congratulate her!" Yang nearly wailed as Blake and Ruby giggled at her discomfort.

"Wait, how did you guys even know we were out here?" Ruby asked suddenly, glancing between Yang and Weiss curiously.

Yang immediately spoke up, cutting Weiss off before she could get a word out.

"Weiss told me she was going to propose, so we came to watch," the blonde answered with a wink at Weiss. "And don't worry, Ruby. Me and her already had _the talk_."

"Yes, Ruby...she nearly convinced me not to propose at all," Weiss replied drying, crossing her arms over her chest when she remembered the emotional roller coaster Yang had put her through a few days earlier.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled, turning on her sister angrily. So far in this life, Ruby was the only one Weiss had ever seen who was able to make Yang shrink away in fear.

"I was just! You know...just trying to protect you?" the blonde said as she tried to defend herself from her little sister's wrath.

Weiss reached out and grabbed ahold of one of Ruby's hands, deciding to spare Yang's life - just this once.

"She was actually very insightful…" she admitted, before a thought popped into her head that could change the subject.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we go out and celebrate?"

"Ohhh yes! I know! Let's get ice cream sundaes!" Ruby suggested, causing Blake and Yang to let out more laughter while Weiss just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Sure, let's go get ice cream sundaes," she replied.

Ruby's eyes met hers, clearly surprised that she had agreed without any fight.

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Weiss responded, pulling the brunette close for another kiss.

"From here on out - whatever you want, consider it yours," Weiss whispered to the now blushing love of her life.

Yang let out a long, low whistle - cutting into their perfect moment, as usual.

"Hey, Blake, when do I get a promise like that?"

"Probably not anytime soon," Blake responded, holding up her injured hand as a reminder.

The blonde cringed at the sight, muttering, "Yeah, I'm going to be paying for that for awhile…" while running one hand nervously through her hair.

"But let's go celebrate with these lovebirds!" she said with a big grin. "Who just put the _cherry_ on top of their relationship."

Yang burst into more giggles as she and Blake turned and made their way back to the house. Weiss felt her face flush as she grabbed ahold of Ruby's hand and followed their teammates back down the trail.

"Don't worry, Weiss," Ruby whispered from beside her. "I loved the analogy."

Weiss grinned as the house came back into view.

She had thought that getting married would mostly be a grand gesture - one to prove to Ruby how much she loved her. But as she squeezed Ruby's hand a little more tightly, reveling in the way she could feel the engagement ring press against her own hand, she realized that this might mean more to her than she had ever imagined it would.

It symbolized Ruby's promise to her just as much as Weiss'.

It symbolized the years they had spent together - the fights and arguments, the apologies and laughs, the hours and hours of work they each put into making this work.

For all their effort, they deserved a cherry on top, right?

After all, the cherry had always been her favorite part.


	8. The One with the Thumb

**This one is a tad weird, but my prompt was 'the one with the thumb!' What else do you do with that?**

**As always, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Come on, come on," Weiss muttered as she rapidly pulled open every drawer on her side of the room. "It has to be here somewhere!"<p>

"Don't worry, Weiss, I'm sure we'll find it. It couldn't have gone very far…" Blake reassured the heiress as she carefully checked the drawers built into their desks, leaving no trace that she had been rifling through her teammates belongings.

"I _know_ it's here in the room somewhere…I made sure to hide it in a bag that I never use…but then Ruby decided to 'help' clean the room and moved it!"

"Then it's going to be here somewhere, we just need to figure out where Ruby thought would be the best place to put it."

"If we can't find it while they're out, I'm going to have to think of a _really_ good gift to give Ruby last minute…and I don't know if I can eat that many cookies again…" Weiss held her hand over her stomach, the memory of just how sickening her last apology gift had been making her to feel a tad queasy.

"You just need to think like Ruby does. If you were Ruby and were trying to clean the room - where would you put it?"

The heiress thought momentarily on that question before she snapped her fingers together when the idea came to her.

"She probably moved it underneath the bed so it was out of the way!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth had she dove to the floor, pulling bags out from under her bed and scouring through them. After a few minutes with no success, she quickly moved over to Blake's bed and began repeating the process.

"I'll look in that one!" Blake cried out when Weiss had pulled the Faunus girl's own suitcase from underneath the bed. She rushed forward and hastily removed the luggage from Weiss' grasp, clutching it to her chest closely but not opening it up.

Weiss merely rolled her eyes and turned back to the more important task at hand.

"We all know you hide those books in there, you know," her muffled voice slipped out from under the bed while several more boxes were pushed into view.

Blake's eyes grew wide at the admission.

"H-how do you know?"

"Yang found them like three days after we moved in," Weiss answered as she emerged with the last of the bags and boxes. "She convinced us not to say anything to you though."

Blake was floored, especially by the nonchalance in Weiss' tone when discussing what Blake considered to be an even bigger secret than her Faunus heritage. She stared at the girl, expecting more of an explanation to come out, but Weiss simply ignored her – far too focused on the new containers in the middle of the floor. Figuring that she was better off without drawing too much attention to the subject, Blake went back to searching the desk drawers.

Sitting amongst the pile of random containers she had collected, Weiss began opening them all in rapid succession, tossing them aside when she knew they did not hold what she was searching for. That's when a small brown box (which was definitely _not_ what she was searching for) caught the girl's attention.

"Hmm…" Weiss muttered as she curiously picked up the package. "I wonder what – OH MY GOD!"

Blake jumped when she heard Weiss' scream, spinning around to find the heiress now standing pressed against the far wall with her hands thrown up in the air, eyes wide in terror.

"What is it?" Blake asked, eyes scanning the ground for anything dangerous that she should be worried about.

"It's…it's…a THUMB!" Weiss screeched, jabbing her finger towards the tiny box she had thrown onto the ground.

Her ears twitching in disbelief, Blake cautiously crept towards the overturned item. Stretching her arm out as far as it would reach, she flipped over the box in one fluid motion, instantly jumping backwards when she confirmed what Weiss was screaming about.

There was a thumb…on the floor.

The two girls stared at the severed appendage for what felt like hours before Weiss finally said something, her voice still shrill and panicked.

"Why does your girlfriend have a THUMB in a box under your bed?"

"What makes you think this is Yang's?" Blake yelled back at the girl, voice in an equal level of distress. "Why couldn't that be Ruby's thumb?"

"One, because I checked this morning and Ruby had _both _of her beautiful thumbs still attached to her hands. And two, because Yang's name is written on the box!" Weiss shot back, pointing to the discarded lid laying on the floor. Blake stepped over and scooped up the lid, finding that Yang's name was, in fact, printed on the front.

She sighed.

"Well I don't know why she has a thumb!" Blake replied in exasperation, finding the evidence far too damning against her girlfriend to try to argue any longer.

Studying the lid, more text caught her eye.

"Ridley's Magic Emporium…" she read aloud, before the light bulb clicked in her mind.

"…It's a fake thumb," Blake said, bending down to more closely examine the object just to make completely sure. Once her suspicion was confirmed, she picked the object up - causing Weiss to let out a small shriek.

"See? It's made of rubber," she commented, squishing the item between her fingers to prove her words. She tossed it to Weiss so the girl could see for herself, but the heiress merely squealed in fear and jumped onto her bed to avoid allowing it to touch her.

"Come on, Weiss, it's fake!"

Blake walked over and picked up the thumb again, placing it carefully back in its box.

"I don't care if it's fake…it's still gross," Weiss replied in a huff, but slid down from her bed once the item was safely stashed away. "Why would Yang have a fake thumb, anyway?"

"Hmmm…" Blake mused as she tapped the top of the box lightly with one finger. Her eyes lit up when she figured it out.

"I bet she's planning to pull a prank on us."

Weiss' eyes widened at the realization before they narrowed into thoughtful consideration.

"But now we know it's just a trick."

Blake grinned back at her teammate, both of them having the same thought at the exact same tie.

"Let's see what happens when her prank doesn't work."

* * *

><p>~A few days later~<p>

"Hey, Ruby, can you help me cut this piece of wood in half? It needs to be smaller for the Vale replica we're building."

"Sure!" Ruby replied, hopping down from her perch upon her bed to help her older sister. The brunette pulled out Crescent Rose, expanding her weapon to full size.

In a matter of seconds, the available space in the room was cut in half by the sheer size of the brunette's weapon.

"Ruby, must you use Crescent Rose in here?" Weiss asked disdainfully from her own bed, textbook still open in her hands.

The brunette sent a sheepish grin back towards her girlfriend.

"It will only take a second, Weiss. I promise!"

Weiss arched an eyebrow and shot a look towards Blake, who was observing the interaction carefully overtop of her own book.

"Ok Ruby, I just need you to cut this rightttt….there. See the line I drew?" Yang instructed while she held the thin piece of wood up in the air, tapping her index finger against a thin black line.

Ruby nodded, lining up Crescent Rose exactly where the line was located. She slowly drew the weapon back and forth several times, making sure her angle was lined up perfectly. Drawing the scythe back one more time, she swung it forward quickly.

The sound of the two pieces of wood clattering to the ground was accompanied by Yang's loud cry of pain.

"My thumb! Ruby!" the blonde cried out, holding onto her right hand as blood spewed from the wound, quickly covering the girl's hands and dripping to the floor.

"OH MY GOD! Yang!" Ruby cried out hysterically, flapping her arms in the air as she rushed to her sister's side.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't…are you…Weiss, what do we do?"

Ruby and Yang both stared in shock as Weiss calmly stood from her bed and walked over to the two sisters, not a single drop of alarm evident in her demeanor.

"Blake and I are going to head down to dinner now," Weiss remarked, wrinkling her nose in disgust when she looked at the severed thumb lying on the ground. "Ruby, I suggest you and this _nitwit_ clean up this bloody mess before you come join us."

The two sisters watched in dismay as the heiress stepped coolly around the mess on the floor and headed out the door. They turned in unison to find Blake preparing to follow Weiss out, just as unperturbed as the heiress about what had just occurred.

Blake walked up to Yang and leaned close to the girl, making sure to avoid the blood on the blonde's hands.

"But you're my nitwit," the Faunus girl whispered into Yang's ear before pulling away and placing a feather light kiss on her partner's cheek. She smirked at the confused expression on Yang's face as she followed Weiss out into the hallway.

Left alone in the room, Yang turned to Ruby in amazement.

"Uh…" she began, unclenching her fists to throw the empty packet of fake blood into the trash can. "That was _not_ the reaction I was expecting…"

Ruby nodded her head rapidly, bending down to retrieve the fake thumb from the floor.

"And it looks so real too!" she remarked.

Yang walked over to wipe her hands off on a dirty towel before scratching her head in puzzlement.

"I don't get it. Your panic was so _real_! It almost made _me _worry, even though I knew what was going on!"

Ruby beamed with pride at her sister's compliment.

"Thank you! And your scream was amazing. For a second there, I thought that maybe I actually _had _cut your thumb off!"

Yang grinned as the two girls set about cleaning up their mess.

"…But you know…your panic might have been just a _little_ bit over the top," Yang said slowly as she threw some paper towels into the trash. "The fearless leader of Team RWBY probably wouldn't freak out _that_ much over a severed thumb…"

Ruby frowned while she stacked the two pieces of wood on top of her desk.

"What about your scream? It was _way_ too shrill," the brunette shot back.

"Shrill?" Yang sputtered out in a high pitched voice, before laughing at herself.

"We just both need to do better next time," the blonde concluded as she brushed off her hands and surveyed their completed work.

"Next time?" Ruby asked, looking up at her sister in curiosity. "Will we do a thumb again next time?"

Yang shook her head as she wrapped an arm around Ruby's shoulders and guided her little sister out the door.

"No Ruby - next time we're going to go for something _much_ bigger. And maybe you can be the one who gets injured…Blake doesn't seem to have much concern for my well being…"

* * *

><p>"Well, they certainly weren't expecting that reaction, were they?" Blake giggled while she walked with Weiss towards the cafeteria, remembering Yang's flabbergasted reaction.<p>

"Serves her right for trying to pull a prank on us!" Weiss huffed. "Maybe next time – hey! Nora!"

The redhead stopped and turned towards them, waving happily.

"Nora, where did you get that bag?" Weiss demanded, stalking up to the oblivious girl and gesturing towards the small purse currently slung around Nora's shoulder.

"Ruby gave it to me a few days ago! It's it cute? It even came with this pretty necklace hidden inside one of the pockets!" Nora pointed proudly towards the silver necklace that was hanging around her neck.

Weiss sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose in defeat.

"Yes, it is very cute," she replied sullenly, abruptly walking away from the sunny girl.

"So…" Blake began hesitantly, jogging two steps to keep up with her teammate.

"Back to the cookie factory we go…" Weiss mumbled as they stepped into the bustling dining hall.


	9. The One with the Sonogram

**Another slightly weird prompt...but oh well! More White Rose for the White Rose fans!**

* * *

><p>"Here Ruby - you can have my cookie," Weiss said, extending the treasured treat out towards her partner as soon as they sat their trays down on the lunchroom table.<p>

This had become the usual routine for the two of them. Weiss refused to eat the sugary, overly processed treats while Ruby had no qualms over devouring them by the fistfuls.

Of course, Weiss didn't _have_ to order the item at lunch everyday…she just found that she really enjoyed how excited Ruby would become whenever she realized that she would have not one, but _two_ cookies with lunch.

"Eh…no thanks."

Weiss stared at Ruby in shock.

Never in the three years that they had known each other (the last two spent together as a couple), had Ruby _ever_ turned down an extra cookie. Especially not chocolate chip; those were her particular favorite.

"What's wrong?" she asked, instantly consumed with concern over Ruby's wellbeing. "Are you feeling ok?"

The brunette shrugged her shoulders halfheartedly as she took a seat.

"I'm just feeling a little queasy, is all," she replied as she began pushing her lunch around on her plate. Weiss had to bite back the desire to instruct the girl to stop playing with her food as she took her place across from the solemn brunette.

"Was it something you ate?" she prodded. She would be surprised if it had been; Ruby seemed to have a steel stomach when it came to eating all sorts of questionable items.

And just as she had thought, Ruby shook her head 'no.'

"I've felt a little off since yesterday, but today my stomach hurts a bit worse. I'm sure it will go away soon though," Ruby answered optimistically before sticking a small forkful of macaroni into her mouth, making a small grimace when she swallowed it.

"You should go to the doctor," Weiss advised as she began eating her own meal, setting her rejected cookie on the edge of her tray in the hopes that it would tempt Ruby enough for the brunette to eat it and thus lessen Weiss' concerns.

"I really don't like going to the doctor…" Ruby pouted, the sight quite adorable in Weiss' humble opinion.

"No one does, you dolt, but if something is seriously wrong you'll want to get the proper medication to deal with it," Weiss informed her, trying her best not to come off as overly bossy.

Ruby seemed to seriously consider Weiss' advice for once, which only made her feel even more concerned than before.

"I'll give it another day, I think. If I don't feel better tomorrow, then I'll go," Ruby stated, nodded in agreement with her own words before picking at her food some more.

Weiss bit her lip while she watched Ruby pretend to eat. She hadn't been worried just minutes earlier, but knowing that Ruby was in some sort of pain made her panic in a way she still could not get a complete handle on. It was as if someone had pulled the fire alarm in her mind and was flooding her system in a chilled hysteria.

For the rest of the day she kept an extremely close eye on Ruby - searching for any sign that the girl's health might be deteriorating. She was prepared to whisk Ruby off to the hospital at the very first sign that something might be wrong. But Ruby seemed to be in a stable amount of pain, although Weiss could now clearly see that her partner was in _some _amount of pain. She felt extremely guilty for not having noticed her partner's plight earlier than today. How could she have missed such obvious signs?

Ruby was moving much slower than usual, wasn't using her semblance in the hallways, turned down a piece of cake from Nora (which nearly caused the redhead to fall over in surprise), and just seemed to be sluggish in general.

Weiss insisted that they go back to the room and get to sleep earlier than usual that night, after Ruby had gotten dinner down just about as well as her lunch. The brunette didn't complain when Weiss ordered, rather than suggested, that Ruby sleep in Weiss' bed that night, so that Weiss could make sure she would notice if anything took a turn for the worse overnight.

Thankfully, both of them slept soundly through the night and when Weiss woke up in the morning, she had nearly forgotten about Ruby's illness when she felt the brunette sleeping beside her. But Ruby wouldn't get out of bed until after everyone else had already gotten ready for classes - and even she did not get up with her usual hop and skip, but hauled herself upwards as if weights were tied to her ankles.

Blake and Yang stared after the downtrodden Ruby while the brunette dragged herself into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

"Uh…Weiss…" Yang began.

"She has to go to the doctor today," Weiss stated, more to herself than to Yang.

"Do you need my help?" Yang asked from where she and Blake sat at the edge of Blake's bed.

Weiss glared at her.

"Why would I need your help to get Ruby to the doctor?" she asked defiantly.

"Because Ruby _hates_ going to the doctor," Yang answered emphatically. "Like…really, really hates it. I was only ever able to get her to go by promising her boatloads of sweets afterwards."

"And you don't think that I can convince her to go?" Weiss asked, scoffing lightly at Yang's ludicrous suggestion. "I think that I know perfectly well how to persuade Ruby to do what I want."

When Yang and Blake both smirked at her, she realized how that had sounded and stomped her foot in annoyance.

"Not like _that_, you imbeciles!"

Yang chuckled while she and Blake stood and began gathering their books and materials for class.

"Just make sure she goes today, ok?" the blonde finally said, turning her sincere lilac eyes towards Weiss.

"We'll tell Professor Port where you guys are," Blake added helpfully as she gently nudged Yang's shoulder to tell the blonde it was time for them to get going.

"I'm leaving her in your care, Weiss!" Yang yelled as the two disappeared behind the door.

Ruby stepped back into the room moments later, still holding one arm in front of her stomach.

"They left without us?" the brunette asked after glancing around the room.

Weiss nodded.

"Yes, because _we're_ going to the _doctor_," she stated firmly. She figured that being straightforward and demanding was really the best way to deal with this situation.

Yang didn't know what she was talking about - Ruby wasn't a child anymore who needed to be bribed with sweets. The brunette was a responsible young adult, the leader of this great team.

But Ruby's eyes widened in horror at Weiss' words while she backed away as quickly as she could.

"Nooo…No, I won't go!" Ruby replied more forcefully than Weiss had ever heard the brunette speak before.

She was taken aback at Ruby's determination, which was unlike anything she had ever seen from the brunette before. She had always liked to believe that Ruby had a certain soft spot for her...but she might be forced to admit that this would be a little more difficult than she had wanted to believe.

"Ruby…you're clearly not feeling well. We need you to see a doctor so that you can get better," she said slowly, trying to use reason to sway the brunette's objections.

But Ruby adamantly shook her head in refusal.

"I'm fine, Weiss. I'll be all better in a flash, too. No need to waste time at the doctor's…"

"Something could be seriously wrong though and you could _die_, Ruby!"

The brunette was not moved at all by the fear tactic, merely shrugging her shoulders.

"How do you know that I could die if you aren't a doctor?" she responded childishly, crossing her arms delicately over her chest while trying to hide the obvious pain the gesture caused.

Weiss sighed, deciding that she had to bite the bullet and pull out the big guns if she had any chance of winning this argument.

"Ok…if you go to the doctor, you'll feel better sooner...which means that you can eat cake and cookies sooner…" she began slowly, as if she were speaking to a child...and maybe Ruby truly was still a child.

When the brunette didn't immediately decline Weiss' logic, she knew that she was on the right track.

"And if you can eat cake and cookies sooner…then you can go with me to that special cake shop in Vale that you are always drooling over."

The bait and trap had been set, now she just needed to see if Ruby would fall for it.

She watched as Ruby bit her lip, no doubt thinking about all of the delicious cakes she always lusted at through the front windows.

"And I'll get you as many cakes as you can eat," Weiss added, deciding that maybe she needed to make the deal just a little bit sweeter.

When Ruby lit up like a light bulb, she knew she had struck gold.

"Deal!" the brunette called out happily as she stuck out her hand to shake Weiss'. Only then did she seem to remember how poorly she was feeling, putting one hand back over her stomach in pain.

"Come on, dunce, we're leaving right now," Weiss ordered after she had received acceptance of their deal.

Twenty minutes later, the two of them were sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office on the Beacon grounds. Not surprisingly for a school specializing in training students for rigorous combat, Beacon had its own small hospital which was equipped to handle any type of emergency which might occur.

The receptionist had told them that it would only be a few minutes before someone could see Ruby.

While they were sitting in the waiting room, Ruby was clutching one of Weiss' hands tightly (Weiss was really glad that Ruby did not have Yang's incredible strength at that moment) as her knees bounced up and down at a million miles per hour.

Weiss couldn't help but feel bad for the brunette's clear fear of being here. She didn't understand why Ruby was so afraid of the doctor, but figured that now might not be the best time to bring that topic up. Instead, she decided that she should try to divert her partner's attention to better thoughts.

"So…what kind of cake do you think you'll order first?"

Ruby's eyes instantly glazed over as the images of all different kinds of cakes danced across her vision.

"Hmm…maybe carrot cake…no, red velvet. Mmm…that double chocolate one. And the vanilla. That strawberry one looked really good too…or maybe the one with those white chocolate curls all over it?"

Weiss giggled while Ruby listed every single cake that had been in the front window the last time they had walked by.

"How about we just order one of everything?" she suggested lightly.

Ruby stared at her with wide eyes, for a few brief moments seeming to completely forget that she was supposed to be nervous about seeing the doctor.

"Can we?" she asked in disbelief, causing Weiss to laugh.

"I said we could get whatever you wanted, remember?"

Truthfully, she would buy Ruby the entire store if she thought it would make her partner feel better that much faster.

"Yes! Let's do that!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "Then, we can try all of them and rank them…"

Ruby wasn't able to finish that thought as a nurse stepped into the waiting area and called out her name. The brunette's nerves instantly returned as she gulped loudly.

"Don't worry," Weiss reassured her, squeezing her hand one last time before letting her go. "I'll be waiting right here for you."

Nodding her head, Ruby slowly stood up and walked over to the nurse as if she were about to be led to her grave. Weiss had never seen the speedster move so sluggishly before. Then, Ruby and the nurse disappeared behind the door.

Several minutes passed. Then several more. Weiss began to worry that maybe Ruby was giving the doctor a difficult time. Maybe she should ask and see if she could be of any help in getting the brunette to cooperate…although Weiss wasn't sure there was much more she could offer Ruby in exchange for cooperation without turning incredibly red in embarrassment.

After what felt like forever, the nurse finally stepped back into the waiting area.

"Miss Schnee, could you come with me please?"

If Weiss hadn't been worried before, she certainly was now.

She said nothing as she stood and forced her lead feet to follow the nurse through the doorway and down the hallway towards another small room. Every horrible illness that Weiss had ever heard of was racing to the front of her mind, as she was certain that Ruby had one of those horrible ailments.

What was she supposed to do if her partner was sick? Would they try to reassign her to someone new?

She didn't want that! If Ruby couldn't be her partner any longer…well then Weiss would no longer be a huntress. And that was just all there was to that.

The nurse stood off to the side as they had reached their destination, which was another closed, white door. The lady motioned for Weiss to head inside, before turning and heading off to her next task.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, Weiss turned the handle and stepped inside.

Ruby was reclining on the table as a young male doctor was speaking to her softly. Ruby noticed Weiss as soon as she entered.

"Hey, Weiss!" the brunette greeted her happily.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked, foregoing any formal greetings. She needed to know what was wrong with Ruby _right now_. And if she didn't like the answer, she would make sure to take Ruby to a much better institution to receive a second opinion. Or a third. Or a fourth…

"Oh…" Ruby said, looking…well, something was off. "Dr. Brady will explain to you…"

The young doctor turned towards Weiss and smiled politely at her.

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Schnee. I'm Dr. Brady."

He held his hand out towards her, which she shook solely out of habit.

"Let's show you what's going on with Miss Rose here then," he said as he turned to the side and turned on a small screen before pulling out a microphone-like instrument. He gestured to Ruby, who obediently lifted the bottom of her shirt slightly, revealing her stomach.

"Alright," he said as he pressed the end of the instrument down to Ruby's stomach. The screen beside him suddenly lit up with a maze of black and grey lines, looking like nothing in particular, as a steady *wom wom wom* noise could be heard.

"Ok, Miss Schnee, can you see that right there?" he asked, pointing towards a spot on the screen.

Weiss leaned closer as she tried to see what he was pointing out, but couldn't find anything remotely recognizable.

"Uh…no?" she answered honestly, not wanting to lie to a doctor.

Dr. Brady laughed at her candor, clearly having anticipated that answer.

"That tiny little ball looking shape right there?"

He pointed to the screen again and Weiss leaned in even closer. If she unfocused her vision, she thought that she could see something that looked somewhat like a microscopic ball.

"What is it?" she asked, opting to skip identifying the object in favor of learning what was wrong with Ruby.

"_That_ is what we in the medical profession like to call…a baby."

If Weiss' chin could have fallen through the floor, it would have at that instant.

"A-a _baby?_" she shrieked, voice high and shrill. "But…but…I don't understand…we couldn't have…"

Her mind reeled in confusion. A baby. A _baby_. How had Ruby…

"RUBY!" she screeched at the girl, who was now biting her lip and looking pointedly away from her.

"HOW did you get pregnant?" she continued, voice becoming a yell as her confusion began morphing into anger. "I certainly know that _I_ didn't get you pregnant!"

Ruby still refused to look at her, biting her lip while her shoulders shook slightly with…

_Laughter_.

Ruby was biting her lip while she tried her best not to burst out laughing!

Weiss had never felt so many conflicting emotions at one time in her life. She was furious, relieved, confused, shocked, and enraged all that the same time.

"I am going to kill you," was all she said when she realized that she had been completely fooled.

That was all it took for Ruby and Dr. Brady to let out their loud laughter, having held it in for too long.

Weiss glared at both of them as Ruby began wiping her eyes in an effort to stem her happiness.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Weiss!" the brunette forced out as she gasped for air. "Y-you…shoulda…s-seen your f-face!"

She continued to glower until they had finally regained some control over themselves, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited. Eventually, they had calmed down enough to begin speaking in normal sentences again.

"I'm sorry, Miss Schnee," Dr. Brady began, "Miss Rose requested that I tell you it was a baby just to see what your reaction would be…"

Weiss rounded on Ruby, who was now trying to disappear.

"This was _your_ idea?"

"Uh…well, sorta. Just…the real explanation is much more boring," Ruby answered timidly, batting those adorable silver eyes towards her as she silently asked for forgiveness.

"What _is_ the real explanation then?" she demanded, deciding that she would be dishing out her own version of punishment later on, not in front of a stranger.

"Gallstones!" Dr. Brady responded proudly, making Ruby crinkle her nose in disgust. "But not to worry, they're very small and we have an extra special medicine she can take to dissolve them in no time. She'll be feeling better in a few days and they should be gone within the month."

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief hearing that it wasn't anything too serious, although she refused to let that show at this point.

"Well, good - then you can live long enough to suffer the consequences for your actions," Weiss stated bluntly as Ruby gingerly hopped down off of the table. She felt her concern return instantly when she saw that Ruby was still in pain, and went to her girlfriend's side to offer her a hand.

"You can pick up the medication on your way out," Dr. Brady said after he made a few final notes on his clipboard and stood up. "And, it was very nice to meet both of you."

"Thank you," Weiss replied politely as she shook the man's hand once more.

"Thanks, Dr. Brady!" Ruby called out as the man left the room with a smile and a wave.

Weiss held onto Ruby's hand and they slowly walked out to collect Ruby's medication and leave the doctor's office.

"So it sounds like you'll be able to go get cake in a few days," Weiss commented lightly as they walked down the halls towards their room.

"You-you mean you'll still take me?"

"Of course," Weiss replied. "I said I would if you went to the doctor. You fulfilled your end of the bargain, so I will fulfill mine."

"Yay!"

"But," Weiss continued, cutting Ruby off before she could celebrate any further, "don't think that I'm going to forget that little trick you played on me, Ruby Rose. I'll get you back for that in the future."

Ruby only giggled as she reached over and gave Weiss a sideways hug.

"I know you will. And I know that when you do, it will be epic!"

Weiss playfully rolled her eyes at the brunette, not bothering to hide her smile.

If someone had told her three years ago that she would be taking care of this dunce and _enjoying_ it, she would have told them to go get their head checked.

Now, she couldn't imagine doing anything but.


	10. Assassin Vs Thief

**This was a prompt from otp prompts on tumblr, who I hadn't even been following at the time but appeared on my dash and sucked me in!**

**Just a little Bumblebee one shot that was quite enjoyable to write and hopefully just as enjoyable to read!**

* * *

><p>The elegant mansion towering over her was quiet at this time of night; its inhabitants long since retired for the evening. The outside was well lit by the light of multiple small, exquisite lanterns hidden among sprawling ivy, but no lights could be seen coming from inside the house.<p>

Blake had no problem making her way across the perfectly manicured front lawn thanks to the bright moon shining overhead. She made sure to keep to the shadows near a line of hedges on the very edge of the property - not wanting to risk making an appearance until absolutely necessary.

That moment came when she had nearly reached the far right corner of the building, directly in front of the bottom story window which would serve as her point of entry.

She had been scoping out the house for nearly a week now - searching for any weakness in the state-of-the-art security system's armor. Her patience had finally paid off with a bit of luck - and thankfully so since she really hadn't wanted to try to disarm the security system on her own.

Someone had forgotten to close this particular window tonight, leaving it open just enough so that the security system wouldn't engage in this section of the house. Blake had nearly missed it in her first pass through - it was that close to being firmly latched.

It was the perfect way to slip in undetected.

Stepping out of the shadows, she quickly crossed a small section of moonlight before making it safely to the ground right in front of the window. After double checking to make sure that the room was empty, she gently pushed the window open a little further - just enough to fit her small frame - before making her way inside.

She allowed her eyes several seconds to adjust to the darkness of the building while crouching immediately in front of the window. Moonlight was drifting through the windows, but it wasn't nearly as bright in here as it had been outside. She would have to proceed slowly and carefully so as not to accidentally bump into anything and alert the homeowners to her presence.

Since this was a private residence, the floorplan of the mansion hadn't been obtainable. She was going to have to do this the hard way - by searching each and every room. Deciding that she should begin her search on the second story, since that would likely be where the master bedroom was located, she began looking for a way upstairs.

She managed to find a staircase easily enough in the hallway right outside of the room she had used to enter the home. This wasn't the main staircase from its more normal size, but had been placed in this end of the house so that the second floor could be reached without walking all the way to the center of the house - where the main staircase was likely located.

On the second floor, she discovered an open floor plan with dozens of doorways lining the perimeter. Quietly approaching the door nearest to her, she silently turned the handle and pushed it open a fraction of an inch. Peering inside, her senses told her that she found nothing besides an empty bedroom. After re-closing the door to eliminate any suspicion that she had been there, she moved onto the next door.

The first few rooms she searched were filled with expensive furniture, but void of inhabitants, leading her back into the what must be considered an upstairs living room (why anyone needed a living room on the second story was beyond her). Her work was quick but methodical - she was in a hurry, but not at the expense of being discovered.

Walking back into the living room area after another unsuccessful search, she was just about to check the next door when she noticed something was wrong.

The door nearest to the staircase, the one she had checked first, was now slightly ajar.

Instinctively crouching down, she wracked her memory from the last few minutes. She was sure that she had pulled the door completely shut - absolutely positive.

Which meant that someone had gone inside just recently. How they had managed to hide their presence from her was just the beginning of her alarm. If whoever it was caught her in here, she might be forced to take drastic measures in order to escape.

But, this could also be the person she was looking for.

Backing slowly away, she kept her eyes trained upon the door while watching for any signs of movement from inside. If she could make it to the other side of the room, she would be able to hide behind an ornate sofa and wait for the mysterious figure to appear. Once that happened, she would be able to reanalyze the situation and formulate a new plan.

Making it to the midpoint of the room, she unexpectedly bumped into something soft - something that let out a soft squeak of astonishment the second she touched it. Her heart burst into rapid fire beats when she realized what she had bumped into - her knives flying into her hands as she spun to face her attacker.

But instead of a gun pointed towards her head or a knife hurtling towards her neck, she found herself face-to-face with a tall, blonde girl with sparkling eyes and a mischievous smile. The girl was grinning at her - not scared or alarmed at all by Blake's aggressive posture.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" the blonde asked, seeming almost thrilled to have stumbled upon company in the quiet mansion.

"I was just...looking around…"

Her answer wouldn't have fooled even a toddler, but Blake was too busy trying to size the girl up to answer more convincingly.

Was she another assassin? Had the contract been double booked? If that had happened, then the blonde could be exceptionally dangerous - there were many tales of assassins killing each other in an attempt to be the first to end the target's life and, thus, be the only one getting paid.

A quiet laugh brought her back to the present moment, finding the blonde to be in good spirits. Hopefully, she was friendly...

"Well you see...there's been something in this house that I've wanted for a _really_ long time...so I think I'm just going to take it…"

Feeling relief pour through her system, Blake was finally able to exhale.

A thief.

Not a threat at all - Blake had no interest in the items here. So if they could agree that they were after different things, they could both just go their separate ways…

"But what are you doing here?"

Or they could continue to have a conversation in the middle of the dark living room.

"I'm here for the owner."

Her response was short, but the blonde immediately understood, nodding her head rapidly.

"Ah...an assassin! Haven't met one of you recently…" the girl trailed off, seemingly deep in thought, before another smile appeared - this one nearly blinding Blake with its radiance.

"Yang Xiao Long's the name," she said, thrusting her hand forward for a handshake. The unexpected movement startled Blake, making her jump backwards several feet in surprise.

She felt her cheeks begin burning when she heard soft giggles coming from the blonde.

"Scaredy cat, aren't ya?"

Scowling at the joke, she strode forward purposefully, putting away one of her knives and taking the outstretched hand in her own for a firm shake.

"Blake," she said, foregoing her last name in an effort to maintain some anonymity. Murder carried a much steeper penalty than theft, after all.

When she tried to withdraw her hand, Yang's grip tightened dramatically - refusing to let her go. Instead, the blonde drew herself closer to Blake - the motion nonthreatening but still unsettling to the skittish assassin.

"Blake…" the blonde said her name soft and low - as if testing out the word and seeing how it felt in her mouth. "Has anyone ever told you that you are absolutely gorgeous?"

Her cheeks began burning as she forcibly pulled her hand from Yang's grasp, the blonde loosening her grip at the same moment in favor of dissolving into more giggles.

"Why would anyone be telling me that?" Blake muttered to herself, unsure as to why the comment was affecting her heart rate so greatly.

"Because you _areeeee_," Yang replied in a sing song voice, clearly tickled by the affect she was having on the assassin. "And I knew it...assassins are sexy!"

Blake stared at the blonde for several seconds, trying to decide what was happening while her face reached record shades of deep red.

"Are you...hitting on me?"

The question sounded even more ludicrous when spoken out loud than it had in her head.

"If I was, is it working?"

Blake scoffed, feeling a slight hint of annoyance mix in with her still fluttering heart.

"I don't have time for this - you go steal your silly item and leave me to my business. And...try not to make too much noise."

She didn't know why the brief glimpse of hurt in the blonde's eyes bothered her so much, but she carried on as if she hadn't noticed it. It disappeared in an instant anyway when a grin found its way back onto Yang's lips.

"Might you need my assistance in your task?" the blonde offered, earning herself another scoff - this one pure indignation.

"Why would I need help from a _thief_?"

"Well, because you're not ninja like I am -"

"I'm plenty 'ninja.'"

"Oh really? Then why didn't you notice me sneaking up on you?"

"You didn't sneak up - wait...you didn't know I was here either!" she finally exclaimed, making Yang break down into more quiet laughter for having flustered Blake once again.

She felt a small smile tug at the edges of her mouth, feeling slightly amused at this rather strange turn of events and the moderately enjoyable company. But...she still had a job to do - and dallying here was not getting her any closer to completing it.

But of course, she couldn't just leave without getting in the last word.

"Listen, I'll give you a headstart to steal whatever it is you're here for - that way you won't still be in here if the cops show up."

"Please..." the girl responded with a crooked grin, "I could steal everything in this house before you can even find the right room."

"_Highly_ doubtful," Blake retorted with a shake of her head, feeling her competitive nature kick into high gear. "But you can certainly try."

"And try I might! But...please tell me how you're going to finish your job without _this_?"

Blake felt her eyes from widen in surprise when she saw the small cellphone Yang held up in front of her. The blonde was wearing a smirk bigger than the room they were currently standing in as she wiggled the device in front of Blake's face before examining it more closely.

"Gee...I wonder how such a _lowly_ thief managed to lift this off of someone as _fearsome _as an assassin?" Yang asked facetiously, giving Blake a wink that, instead of irritating her, only created butterflies in her stomach.

"How did you...give that back," she ordered, trying to keep her voice low and forceful. She needed that phone in order to call the client and let them know that the job had been completed - she had no other means to contact him.

"Hmm...why don't we see if you can make me?"

Blake raised her eyebrows at the taunt, but raised her hands a little higher - noticing that she still had one knife clutched within her left hand.

"_Without_ killing me," Yang replied with a soft laugh, not frightened in the slightest by the threatening gesture Blake had accidentally just made.

Blake paused for a second to listen. Once satisfied that the house was still quiet, she stared Yang down with a smirk.

"_When_ I take that back from you, will you _finally_ let me finish my job in peace?"

Yang grinned at the question.

"_If_ you can get it back from me, then yes - you can continue your mission and I'll stay out of your way," the blonde affirmed, before giving Blake another wink before sticking the phone down her top.

Blake rolled her eyes at the action while placing her knife carefully back into its sheath. Crouching down, she readied herself to take on the blonde haired thief. Should be easy - Blake was a professional assassin with years and years of hand-to-hand combat, after all.

Yang assumed a boxer's stance and waved Blake towards her. Blake didn't waste a second in shooting forward, rapidly closing the distance between the two. At the last possible second, she spun to the right just as Yang's punch flew past her head. With lightning fast reflexes, she grabbed ahold of Yang's outstretched arm near the girl's shoulder and used both of their momentums to twist Yang around and flip the girl over onto her back.

At least, that was what was _supposed_ to happen. She was beyond surprised when Yang didn't smash down on her back, but instead managed to complete a full rotation and land firmly back onto her feet. What was worse, the blonde had managed to wrap her own hand around Blake's - and was refusing to let go.

Trapped within an iron grip, she was forced to fight against the blonde from a proximity of only a foot or so. She tried to attack with her left hand, only to have her blows easily dodged or deflected. Aiming one jab towards the Yang's nose, Blake internally groaned when the blonde's free hand shot up at the very last second and locked down onto her left hand - sealing both of Blake's arms within iron grips.

Before she had time to react, Yang had swiped one of her legs underneath Blake's - throwing her off balance just long enough for the blonde to push forward and send them both crashing to the floor.

She hit the ground flat on her back with the blonde landing right on top of her, their hands still locked together. A loud thud echoed from the walls, the reverberations shaking the crystals in the chandelier overhead. Holding her breath, she listened for any sound of footsteps running towards them or voices sounding in alarm.

When she heard nothing, she let out a breath in relief...until she realized that Yang's face was now mere inches from her own. With the blonde's body pressing down upon her, she was effectively pinned to the floor - although not altogether uncomfortable in this position. From this proximity, she could see the flecks of gold sprinkled amongst lilac, the faint outline of a few rogue freckles that were trying to make their presence known, and the soft red of the girl's lips, even though she didn't seem to be wearing any lipstick.

She cursed her heart when she felt it begin beating uncontrollably, knowing that Yang could probably feel her pulse pounding through their joined hands. But the blonde seemed interested in nothing other than staring into Blake's own eyes - at the same time disarming and exhilarating.

Blake recognized the look of desire in Yang's eyes as warm air from their jagged breaths collided in the thin strip of space that separated their lips - the same look was likely mirrored within her own eyes. When the girl began to lean closer, Blake's eyes fluttered shut, eager to lose herself in the warmth that was blanketing her.

The sound of a soft click had hardly registered in Blake's mind before the room was flooded in bright light. Both she and Yang instantly shot to their feet as their moment was shattered in favor of reality.

Squinting slightly from the sudden onset of light, Blake turned to find two girls standing in one of the doorways dressed in their robes - one holding a baseball bat while the other held what looked like a very, _very_ menacing knife.

She felt her instinct to run kick in, but something kept her glued to the spot for just a second too long. And now that they had already seen her face, they would be able to identify her to police. She hadn't done anything wrong yet...she could get out of this with a simple breaking and entering charge - all she had to do was stay calm and play as if she were a mere thief too.

"Yang? What are you doing here?"

The brunette's question flipped any thoughts Blake had been having completely out of her head. She turned slowly towards the blonde, who now looked extraordinarily embarrassed.

"I was just...you know...checking out your new furniture? I thought maybe it would better at night."

"Oh for god's sake...just _take_ the damn thing. I've tried to give it to you at least a dozen times already!" the girl with white hair said, voice flirting on the edge of pure annoyance.

"But what fun is that? Getting expensive things for free...that takes all the joy out of stealing," Yang replied, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest.

"It should take _all_ the joy out of stealing because you don't _need_ to steal anymore!" the annoyed girl spat, raising the bat in her hand as if she would like nothing more than to throttle the blonde with it.

"Give her a break, Weiss…" the brunette piped in. "At least she's just stealing from us and not from other people…that we know of…"

Blake's eyes locked onto the girl with white hair - Weiss, the brunette had called her. That was her target, the girl she had been hired to kill. But there were too many people around now...too many innocent lives. Plus, from the way the brunette was holding that knife, it looked like she was more than adept at using it.

"Uh...but who are you?"

The brunette had finally singled her out, gazing at her curiously while Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

She opened her mouth to respond with a cleverly crafted lie, but was cut off by a voice from her right.

"She's here to kill you, Weiss."

She spun on the blonde in pure shock at the words she had just heard.

"So much for honor amongst thieves!" she directed towards Yang.

"I thought you were too good to be a mere thief taking 'silly items,'" the blonde responded with a smirk.

"Well, if you think about it, I steal lives...so, technically I'm a thief too."

As she trailed off, she directed her attention back to the two at the door, preparing herself to turn and flee or to defend herself based upon their reactions. But Weiss merely sighed, seemingly much more exhausted by the news than terrified by it.

"Another one, I see…" she said while the brunette took a small step forward in order to shield her from Blake's path - as if Blake would be foolish enough to try to attack when it was now three against one.

"Do you know who placed the contract?" the girl suddenly asked, directing her clear blue eyes directly towards Blake - showing no fear whatsoever.

"I don't...but I can find out."

She rarely tried to discover the identity of those that hired her - both for their safety and for her own. Plus, that took away some of the mystery behind the hit. In this case, she had imagined the man who had hired her just wanted to skip a few rungs of the corporate ladder or knock off a competitor.

"I'll pay you quadruple to take care of them for me instead."

Her jaw hit the floor at the proposal. Quadruple? That was...it was...well, she could retire several times over with that amount of money.

"I'll take your stunned silence as acceptance," the girl replied with a terse nod. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're going back to sleep. Yang, could you please show our guest out? Preferably through a doorway and _not_ through a window this time...Also, I don't think it counts as successfully stealing something if you have to leave a window unlatched when you leave our house from dinner."

Blake stared in dumbfounded silence when the two girls made their way back out of the room, with the brunette turning back to wave at Yang before flipping the light switch back to 'off.'

"See ya, sis!" Blake heard called back down the hallway before more silence enveloped them.

Giving Blake an embarrassed grin, Yang motioned for Blake to follow her. She obligingly did so, still in a state of numb shock that prevented her from seeing any other option at this point. But after passing calmly through the dark hallways towards the front door - following a path that Yang clearly knew by heart - she had to ask the question burning at the tip of her tongue.

"WHY were you breaking into your own sister's house?"

Yang let out an embarrassed laugh before answering.

"Well you see...before Ruby went and got herself hitched to the richest girl in the entire world, we had to fight to scrape by. One of the ways we got things was by...taking them. I became quite good at it and actually miss it sometimes - the thrill of taking something that doesn't belong to you. Kind of an addiction, you see."

"And Weiss might say that she hates it, but she keeps buying all of these expensive things and placing them in 'impenetrable' safes that she makes me drool over. So I still try to pick up a _few_ things here and there...just to keep my skills sharp. And if I take the from Weiss and Ruby, no one seems to get mad."

Blake was surprised at the blonde's candor in answering the question - freely admitting her faults.

After descending the massive master staircase, they stepped into the entryway, two stories tall with the giant front doorway greeting them at the opposite end. Crossing it with little more sound than the soft tapping of their shoes against the granite floor, they soon found themselves at their destination.

Yang reached out one hand to the door handle, but paused with her hand laying lightly upon the polished brass.

"So, why do you do...what you do?"

The girl seemed almost hesitant to ask, as if Blake might respond that she actually had an addiction to murder, too.

"I...it's the only thing I know...it's what I was trained for since I was very young and the only way I know to survive."

Answering the question honestly made her feel increasingly vulnerable, but, for some reason that she couldn't explain right now, she knew that she could trust the information with Yang.

"And will Weiss' money help you...survive?"

"With that amount of money, I'll be done for good."

The answer brought a huge smile to the blonde's face - which brought a smile to her face as well.

"So when you're done taking care of that...maybe you'd want to come back here...and see me sometime?"

Letting out a small huff, Blake could feel her heart beginning to speed up at the prospect of seeing the blonde again. She would love to be indignant and aloof, but the idea was far more thrilling to her than anything she had ever felt before.

"Sure - after all, someone's got to help you case this place quietly," she managed to respond coolly, keeping her eagerness in check for the time being.

Yang grinned at her answer before unexpectedly reaching forward and wrapping Blake in a strong hug. After initially stiffening at the gesture, the feeling of Yang's warm arms encircling her shoulders began to comfortably loosen her muscles, spreading contentment through her veins.

When Yang pulled away, Blake couldn't help a tiny frown from forming on her face - thinking that the contact had ended far too soon.

"Then I'll see you really soon!" the blonde responded with a goofy smile that nearly made Blake laugh out loud. "I'll make sure to leave the window open for you again."

For the first time ever, Blake made her way out of a target's house through the front door. And, even though she could have instantly disappeared into the shadows and removed herself from Yang's vision, she didn't. She stuck to the moonlight as long as possible - feeling the lilac gaze following her into the distance.

It wasn't until she was nearly a block from the house did she realize that her coat pocket felt a little heavier than usual. Quickly digging through the pocket, she smiled to herself when she pulled out the cellphone Yang had taken from her earlier.

The girl must have somehow managed to slip the device back into her pocket without her even noticing - quite a skillful feat, in Blake's eyes.

As she stared at the small device with a foolish grin frozen in place, she realized that the thief had stolen something else from her - something far more valuable and well-guarded than a simple disposable cellphone.

Something she had kept under lock and key for as long as she could remember.

Her heart.


End file.
